Patents Examined by Marina Fishman
  • Patent number: 8294056
    Abstract: Disclosed is a bushing terminal of a vacuum circuit breaker used for interrupting current, which includes: a terminal body having a cylinder that can be inserted into the interior of a contactor and annular protrusions formed to be protrude from an outer circumferential surface of the cylinder; and a flange having an insertion hole through which the cylinder is inserted, wherein the annular protrusions are plastic-deformed so as to be fixed to the insertion hole of the flange.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: LS Industrial Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jae-Kwan Seo
  • Patent number: 8283590
    Abstract: There is provided a vacuum circuit breaker including a vacuum valve, a first main circuit conductor fixed to a fixed current-carrying rod end of the vacuum valve, a polygonal movable conductor connected to a movable current-carrying rod end of the vacuum valve, an operation movable rod connected to the movable conductor in an axial direction and connected to an operation mechanism, a second main circuit conductor, through which the operation movable rod is movably inserted, and at least one extendable flexible conductor, which connects side surfaces of the movable conductor and the second main circuit conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Ryosuke Sasaki, Hiromichi Somei
  • Patent number: 8269128
    Abstract: A vacuum switch tube is provided, which includes a first conductive rod disposed with a first contact and a second conductive rod disposed with a second contact. The first contact and the second contact are disposed facing each other and sealed in a vacuum tube body. Contact bodies of the first contact and the second contact are spheres with spherical caps at two ends being cut off. The first contact and the second contact respectively include conductive members and magnetic members extending in the same direction and joining with each other to form the contact bodies. The cross section shape of the magnetic members is divided by a neutrality line into two unequal regions. The magnetic member of the first contact and the conductive member of the second contact are correspondingly disposed. The conductive member of the first contact and the magnetic member of the second contact are correspondingly disposed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Beijing Orient Vacuum Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jianchang Ren
  • Patent number: 8269130
    Abstract: A vacuum interrupter includes a number of insulative tubes having a first open end and a second open end; a first end member secured to the first open end; a second end member secured to the second open end; a fixed contact mounted on a fixed electrode extending through the second end member; a retainer; and a movable contact. The retainer includes a rigid retainer having a plurality of legs and an opening, and an insulative bushing having a smaller opening. The insulative bushing is molded over a portion of the rigid retainer. The smaller opening is within the opening of the rigid retainer and is structured to receive a movable electrode. The movable contact is mounted on the movable electrode extending through the first end member and through the smaller opening. The movable contact is capable of axially reciprocating into and out of contact with the fixed contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Dan J. Mangan, Benjamin A. Rosenkrans, Eric D. Smith
  • Patent number: 8269127
    Abstract: Disclosed is a tulip contacting device for a vacuum circuit breaker employed to quickly break off an electric power system, in which contact fingers are bidirectionally rotatable in a state of being restricted at an outer diameter portion of a mover holder, such that the flexibility of the contact fingers can be increased, whereby it is possible, upon connecting the vacuum circuit breaker to a case, to flexibly deal with the variation of axial angles of terminals inserted in both sides of the tulip contacting device, and also springs may be coupled to the contact fingers, respectively, so as to effectively prevent separation and overall destroy of the contact fingers from the mover holder during installation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: LS Industrial Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jae-Kwan Seo
  • Patent number: 8269121
    Abstract: A mechanical force switch to be disposed along a longitudinal device axis of a medical device includes an electrically conductive switching piston to form a first electrical contact of the switch, a hollow body, an end stop, a bias device, and an electrically conductive second contact of the switch electrically insulated from the piston. The piston is movably disposed in the body hollow along the axis to define different switch-making and -breaking positions. The piston is also movably disposed in a cavity of the stop and the stop is disposed in the body. The stop can be a smooth or threaded puck. The bias device surrounds the piston and imparts bias against it to retain it in one of the two positions until an external axis force overcomes the bias, at which time the switch indicates a state changeover. The switch can be normally open or closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.
    Inventor: Kevin W. Smith
  • Patent number: 8269129
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a vacuum switch tube, which includes a first conductive rod and a second conductive rod. A first contact is disposed at the first conductive rod. A second contact is disposed at the second conductive rod. The first contact and the second contact include conductive members and magnetic members, and are sealed in a vacuum tube body and correspondingly disposed. A front end of the first contact is disposed with a convex hemisphere. A front end of the second contact is disposed with a concave hemisphere matching with the front end of the first contact in shape. Therefore, the vacuum switch tube increases surface areas of the contacts, and reduces a resistance increase caused by the poor contacting effect. Meanwhile, a rotating magnetic field is formed between the convex hemisphere and concave hemisphere contacts, thereby facilitating arc-extinguishing and enhancing a breaking capability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Beijing Orient Vacuum Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jianchang Ren
  • Patent number: 8263893
    Abstract: A subsea arrangement including at least one canister including a chamber accommodating at least one circuit breaker. The chamber is filled with a gaseous dielectric medium constituting a quenching medium for the at least one circuit breaker in the chamber. The pressure in the chamber is balanced against ambient sea water pressure by a pressure balancer, which includes at least one pressure container containing a pressurized gaseous medium of a same type as the gaseous medium in the chamber. The pressure container is connected to the chamber via a control valve, which is arranged to be controlled by the ambient pressure so as to feed pressurized gaseous medium from the pressure container into the chamber when the ambient pressure increases in order to maintain the pressure in the chamber equal to the ambient pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Vetco Gray Scandinavia AS
    Inventor: Tor-Odd Rønhovd
  • Patent number: 8263894
    Abstract: Disclosed is an electrode for a vacuum interrupter, capable of reducing damage of contacts due to heat concentration to the center of the contacts, by reducing magnetic flux concentration to the center of the electrode, and capable of rapidly extinguishing an arc by diffusing the arc by forming a wide range of magnetic flux.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: LS Industrial Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sung Jun Tak, Jae Seop Ryu
  • Patent number: 8258417
    Abstract: A thin, film-form seating switch able to detect whether an occupant sits on the seat or not, wherein, with a spacer (5) in-between, a film-form substrate (3) is disposed on one surface of the spacer and a film-form member (7) on the other surface, a first conductor (13) equipped with a first terminal (9) and a first electrode (11A) conductive with this and a second conductor (19) equipped with a second terminal (15) and a second electrode (17A) conductive with this are fixed to one surface of the film-form substrate, and a third conductor (21A) for letting the first electrode conduct with the second electrode when an occupant is seated is fixed to the film-form member (7). The above arrangement solves a conventional problem that it is troublesome to connect the connection terminals of wires or the like provided on a wiring harness or the like to respective terminals that are separately provided on a film-form substrate and a film-form member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignees: Fujikura Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Kawahira, Takahiro Ishii, Mikihito Kojima, Toyohiko Shindo, Naotaka Kumakiri, Masashi Yoshifuku, Takashi Furukawa, Nobuhiro Koyota, Tsutomu Terasaki
  • Patent number: 8253055
    Abstract: There is provided a vacuum circuit breaker including a vacuum valve, a first main circuit conductor fixed to a fixed current-carrying rod end of the vacuum valve, a polygonal movable conductor connected to a movable current-carrying rod end of the vacuum valve, an operation movable rod connected to the movable conductor in an axial direction and connected to an operation mechanism, a second main circuit conductor, through which the operation movable rod is movably inserted, and at least one extendable flexible conductor, which connects side surfaces of the movable conductor and the second main circuit conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Ryosuke Sasaki, Hiromichi Somei
  • Patent number: 8247725
    Abstract: A vacuum switchgear has a vacuum valve including a movable conductor connected to an insulating rod, and a fixed conductor connected to a bus bar or to a load cable, a vacuum chamber encasing the vacuum valve, an insulating envelope covering the vacuum chamber, the outer surface thereof being covered with an electro-conductive layer thereby to earth the envelope, and an insulating lid gas-tightly fitted to the insulating envelope. The lid has an insulating bushing through which an insulating rod penetrates, the insulating rod being connected to an operating mechanism, wherein the insulating rod except a portion exposed from the bushing is gas-tightly confined in insulating gas atmosphere formed between the insulating envelope and the insulating lid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ayumu Morita, Takashi Sato, Tomoaki Utsumi, Makoto Yano, Kenji Tsuchiya, Masato Kobayashi, Shuichi Kikukawa, Junichi Katagiri
  • Patent number: 8247727
    Abstract: An electrical switching apparatus includes separable contacts, an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts, and an arc chamber. The arc chamber includes a slot motor having a core and a housing with an opening therein, an arc chute, and a number of gassing inserts disposed in the opening of the housing. The number of gassing inserts and the housing are structured to form a number of gas flow circulation paths. The number of gas flow circulation paths are structured to drive an arc into the arc chute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Xin Zhou, Paul J. Rollmann, William E. Beatty, Jr., Robert W. Mueller
  • Patent number: 8247726
    Abstract: An arc chute assembly is provided for an electrical switching apparatus. The electrical switching apparatus includes a housing and separable contacts enclosed by the housing. An arc is generated in response to the separable contacts being separated. The housing includes a number of arc chambers each having a first side and a second side disposed opposite and spaced apart from the first side. The arc chute assembly includes a plurality of first arc plates extending outwardly from the first side of a corresponding one of the arc chambers toward the second side of the corresponding one of the arc chambers, and a plurality of second arc plates extending outwardly from the second side of the corresponding one of the arc chambers toward the first side of the arc chamber. None of the arc plates engages the opposing side of the arc chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Richard D. Prohaska, Jeffrey B. Ensley
  • Patent number: 8247721
    Abstract: This invention is directed to a switch for use in an electronic device. As the user actuates the switch, different labels may be visible to indicate to the user the current state of the switch. To allow the switch to be positioned adjacent to an edge of the device, the switch may include only a single label that moves with the switch. For example, the switch may include a label positioned adjacent to a nub that the user may operate. The label may be sized such that only the label is visible when the switch is in a first position. The electronic device may also include a second label that is fixed to a non-moving portion of the electronic device. When the user moves the switch, the switch may move away from and uncover the second label while hiding the label that is included in the switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Emery Sanford
  • Patent number: 8237076
    Abstract: A vacuum switch means a unit switch section comprising a pair of vacuum main circuit switches, an earth switch, operating rods for operating movable conductors of the main circuit vacuum switch and earth switch, and a molding case covering the main circuit switch, earth switch and the operating rods, wherein the operating rods are connectable with an operating mechanism, and the fixed conductors of the main circuit switch and earth switch are connected with bushing conductors. The main circuit vacuum switches are disposed in separate vacuum chambers. The movable conductors of the main circuit switches and electrically connected to each other via a transition conductor, and the movable conductors are operated synchronously by means of a transition rod connected to the transition rod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Sato, Kenji Tsuchiya, Ayumu Morita
  • Patent number: 8232498
    Abstract: A short-circuit device is provided for medium and high-voltage switching devices, in which at least one moving contact is moved onto a fixed contact by means of a propelling charge. Two contact arrangements are provided in series to provide a higher dielectric strength. Each of the contact arrangements includes a fixed contact and a moving contact. A first fixed contact of a first one of the contact arrangements contains a mechanical ignition device for providing a propelling charge to a moving contact of the second one of the contact arrangements, such that when the moving contact reaches the fixed contact of the first contact arrangement, the propelling charge is mechanically ignited to cause the moving contact of the second contact arrangement to be propelled toward the fixed contact of the second contact arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2012
    Assignee: ABB Technology AG
    Inventor: Dietmar Gentsch
  • Patent number: 8232499
    Abstract: A contactor assembly is adapted for switching power to a circuit having a power source. The contactor assembly includes a housing, carry contacts, and arc contacts. The housing defines an interior compartment and includes internal chamber walls that laterally extend within the compartment to define a protection chamber. The carry contacts are disposed in the protection chamber of the housing. The carry contacts include conductive bodies that protrude from the housing and are configured to close the circuit. The arc contacts are disposed in the housing outside of the protection chamber. The arc contacts include conductive bodies that protrude from the housing and are configured to close the circuit. The internal chamber walls of the housing prevent material that is expelled from one or more of the arc contacts when an electric arc emanates from one or more of the arc contacts from contaminating one or more of the carry contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2012
    Assignee: Tyco Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Bernard Bush, Marcus Priest
  • Patent number: 8232491
    Abstract: A movable contact point made of a thin conductive metal sheet in an approximate dome shape is attached to the lower surface of a transparent base sheet, and the base sheet is provided at the upper or the lower surface with a fluorescent layer in the location above the movable contact point. Since, in the make-up, light can be made available for illumination in many colors other than that generated from a light emitting device, a movable contact element, as well as a switch formed using the contact element, that offers various illuminating modes can be implemented in a simple structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Tatehata, Takefumi Inoue, Koji Tanabe, Yousuke Chikahisa
  • Patent number: 8227721
    Abstract: This interrupter device includes a parallel branch (4) in which a vacuum switch chamber is connected for breaking current. The branch is inactive in normal operation, with current flowing in it only when the disconnector (2) has started its opening movement, by progressive transfer of the current from the main power line (1) to the branch (4). Since the vacuum switch (6) is generally at rest, it no longer needs to be dimensioned to satisfy stringent electrical and dielectric requirements for normal operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Areva T & D SAS
    Inventors: Daniel Piccoz, Floriane Decq, Patrice Grosjean