Patents by Inventor Zichi Zhang

Zichi Zhang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11887794
    Abstract: A breaking device for interrupting current includes an electrically conducting outer member, an electrically conducting inner member arranged radially inside the outer member with respect to a breaking axis and an electrically insulating or semiconducting breaking member arranged radially between the outer member and the inner member with respect to the breaking axis, where the breaking member is arranged to move along the breaking axis from a starting position to a protruding position in which the breaking member protrudes from a space within the outer member for interrupting a current between the outer member and the inner member and the breaking member includes a first tubular including a first insulating material and a second insulating material, where the first insulating material has a higher wear resistance than the second insulating material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: ABE
    Inventors: Julia Viertel, Zichi Zhang, James Mannekutla, Lars Jonsson, Alessio Bergamini
  • Patent number: 11784014
    Abstract: A breaking device for interrupting current includes an electrically conducting outer member, an electrically conducting inner member arranged radially inside the outer member with respect to a breaking axis and an electrically insulating or semiconducting breaking member arranged radially between the outer member and the inner member with respect to the breaking axis, where the breaking member is arranged to move along the breaking axis from a starting position to a protruding position in which the breaking member protrudes from a space within the outer member for interrupting a current between the outer member and the inner member and the breaking member includes an inner tubular element and an outer tubular element, where the outer tubular element is joined to an outer surface of the inner tubular element thereby defining a recess between the outer tubular element and the inner tubular element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: ABB S.p.A.
    Inventors: James Mannekutla, Zichi Zhang, Lars Jonsson, Julia Viertel, Alessio Bergamini
  • Publication number: 20230005682
    Abstract: A breaking device for interrupting current includes an electrically conducting outer member, an electrically conducting inner member arranged radially inside the outer member with respect to a breaking axis and an electrically insulating or semiconducting breaking member arranged radially between the outer member and the inner member with respect to the breaking axis, where the breaking member is arranged to move along the breaking axis from a starting position to a protruding position in which the breaking member protrudes from a space within the outer member for interrupting a current between the outer member and the inner member io and the breaking member includes a first tubular including a first insulating material and a second insulating material, where the first insulating material has a higher wear resistance than the second insulating material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2022
    Publication date: January 5, 2023
    Inventors: Julia Viertel, Zichi Zhang, James Mannekutla, Lars Jonsson, Alessio Bergamini
  • Publication number: 20220384128
    Abstract: A breaking device for interrupting current includes an electrically conducting outer member, an electrically conducting inner member arranged radially inside the outer member with respect to a breaking axis and an electrically insulating or semiconducting breaking member arranged radially between the outer member and the inner member with respect to the breaking axis, where the breaking member is arranged to move along the breaking axis from a starting position to a protruding position in which the breaking member protrudes from a space within the outer member for interrupting a current between the outer member and the inner member and the breaking member includes an inner tubular element and an outer tubular element, where the outer tubular element is joined to an outer surface of the inner tubular element thereby defining a recess between the outer tubular element and the inner tubular element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2022
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Inventors: James Mannekutla, Zichi Zhang, Lars Jonsson, Julia Viertel, Alessio Bergamini
  • Patent number: 11335524
    Abstract: An electrical switching device includes: a main contact arrangement including a fixed contact and a movable contact, a plurality of splitter plates, each having a loop structure, the splitter plates being coaxially stacked with respect to their loop structure to form a stack, wherein one splitter plate is a first outermost plate and another splitter plate is a second outermost plate, a first arc runner electrically connected to the second outermost plate and a second arc runner electrically connected to the first outermost plate, the first and second arc runners being configured to direct a main arc from the main contact arrangement to the stack to thereby split the main arc into a plurality of secondary arcs between the splitter plates, and a first drive coil electrically connected to the second arc runner and to the movable contact or to the first arc runner and to the fixed contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Publication number: 20210358701
    Abstract: An electrical switching device including: a main contact arrangement including a fixed contact and a movable contact, a plurality of splitter plates, each having a loop structure, the splitter plates being coaxially stacked with respect to their loop structure to form a stack of splitter plates, wherein one of the splitter plates of the stack of splitter plates is a first outermost splitter plate and another one of the splitter plates of the stack of splitter plates is a second outermost splitter plate, a first arc runner electrically connected to the second outermost splitter plate and a second arc runner electrically connected to the first outermost splitter plate, the first arc runner and the second arc runner being configured to direct a main arc from the main contact arrangement to the stack of splitter plates to thereby split the main arc into a plurality of secondary arcs between the splitter plates, and a first drive coil electrically connected to the second arc runner and to the movable contact or to
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Publication date: November 18, 2021
    Inventors: Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Patent number: 10872740
    Abstract: An electrical DC switching system for extinguishing an electric arc, wherein the electrical DC switching system includes: a main contact arrangement having a first contact and a second contact, the main contact arrangement being operable between a closed position and an open position, a plurality of serial contacts connected in series with each other and connected in parallel with the main contact arrangement, each serial contact being operable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in a current breaking operation the main contact arrangement is configured to be set in the open position before the plurality of serial contacts are configured to be set in their open positions, and a current injection circuit including a resonance circuit configured to be connected across the serial contacts, and a first switch configured to be switched between an open state and a closed state and configured to be connected to the resonance circuit and to the serial contacts, wherein the first switch is configur
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Patent number: 10734834
    Abstract: A resonant turn-off circuit is provided to disconnect an inadequate power source and transfer a load to an alternate power source. In the circuit, a main switch is turned off before the AC cycle of the power source crosses zero. As a result, the main switch may be turned off quickly to transfer electric power supplied to a load to a second power source. The circuit may include resonant switches, a capacitor, a pre-charging power supply and an inductor. When it is desired to turn off the main switch, a resonant switch is turned off to cause a voltage reversal across the switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Zhiguo Pan, Adil Oudrhiri, Zichi Zhang, Yu Du
  • Patent number: 10665404
    Abstract: An electrical DC switching system for extinguishing an electric arc, wherein the electrical DC switching system includes: a contact arrangement having a first contact and a second contact, a current injection circuit including a resonance circuit configured to be connected across the contact arrangement, and a first switch connected to the resonance circuit and to the first contact, wherein the first switch is configured to be switched between an open state and a closed state, wherein in the closed state the first switch is configured to enable an injection current to flow through the resonance circuit in a first flow direction and into the contact arrangement in a direction opposite to a flow direction of a contact arrangement arc current, and an arc chute assembly including a plurality of splitter plates configured to extinguish an electric arc across the first contact and the second contact, wherein each splitter plate of the plurality of splitter plates has a layered configuration including a magnetic lay
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Erik Johansson, Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Publication number: 20200144008
    Abstract: An electrical DC switching system for extinguishing an electric arc, wherein the electrical DC switching system includes: a main contact arrangement having a first contact and a second contact, the main contact arrangement being operable between a closed position and an open position, a plurality of serial contacts connected in series with each other and connected in parallel with the main contact arrangement, each serial contact being operable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in a current breaking operation the main contact arrangement is configured to be set in the open position before the plurality of serial contacts are configured to be set in their open positions, and a current injection circuit including a resonance circuit configured to be connected across the serial contacts, and a first switch configured to be switched between an open state and a closed state and configured to be connected to the resonance circuit and to the serial contacts, wherein the first switch is configur
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Publication date: May 7, 2020
    Inventors: Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Patent number: 10614979
    Abstract: A switchgear includes a circuit breaking section having a moveable contact bridging element and at least one first arc chutes adjacent the contact bridging element, each arc chute including a base plate for connecting to the contact bridging element and a group of splitter plates placed adjacent the base plate, where the splitter plates of the groups are separated from the base plate and each other via air gaps and resistors interconnect at least some of the plates in at least a first of the arc chutes for bypassing corresponding air gaps, wherein the resistors have values in the range 5 k?-1 M?, current ratings below 100 mA and power ratings below 1 W.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Publication number: 20190372389
    Abstract: A resonant turn-off circuit is provided to disconnect an inadequate power source and transfer a load to an alternate power source. In the circuit, a main switch is turned off before the AC cycle of the power source crosses zero. As a result, the main switch may be turned off quickly to transfer electric power supplied to a load to a second power source. The circuit may include resonant switches, a capacitor, a pre-charging power supply and an inductor. When it is desired to turn off the main switch, a resonant switch is turned off to cause a voltage reversal across the switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Inventors: Zhiguo Pan, Adil Oudrhiri, Zichi Zhang, Yu Du
  • Publication number: 20190355533
    Abstract: A switchgear includes a circuit breaking section having a moveable contact bridging element and at least one first arc chutes adjacent the contact bridging element, each arc chute including a base plate for connecting to the contact bridging element and a group of splitter plates placed adjacent the base plate, where the splitter plates of the groups are separated from the base plate and each other via air gaps and resistors interconnect at least some of the plates in at least a first of the arc chutes for bypassing corresponding air gaps, wherein the resistors have values in the range 5 k?-1 M?, current ratings below 100 mA and power ratings below 1 W.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2017
    Publication date: November 21, 2019
    Inventors: Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson
  • Publication number: 20190348238
    Abstract: An electrical DC switching system for extinguishing an electric arc, wherein the electrical DC switching system includes: a contact arrangement having a first contact and a second contact, a current injection circuit including a resonance circuit configured to be connected across the contact arrangement, and a first switch connected to the resonance circuit and to the first contact, wherein the first switch is configured to be switched between an open state and a closed state, wherein in the closed state the first switch is configured to enable an injection current to flow through the resonance circuit in a first flow direction and into the contact arrangement in a direction opposite to a flow direction of a contact arrangement arc current, and an arc chute assembly including a plurality of splitter plates configured to extinguish an electric arc across the first contact and the second contact, wherein each splitter plate of the plurality of splitter plates has a layered configuration including a magnetic lay
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2017
    Publication date: November 14, 2019
    Applicant: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Erik Johansson, Zichi Zhang, Stefan Valdemarsson