Piston Structure Patents (Class 218/60)
  • Patent number: 11798762
    Abstract: A gas circuit breaker includes a sealed container in which the arc-extinguishing gas is enclosed, a first fixed contactor portion and a second fixed contactor portion fixed to the sealed container, and a movable contactor portion which moves between the first fixed contactor portion and the second fixed contactor portion, to conduct and break current between them, in which an arc generated at a time of current breaking action is extinguished by spraying the arc-extinguishing gas, the gas circuit breaker includes a gas chamber configured to accumulate the unnecessary gas, the sealed container is formed by joining ends of the two hollow truncated cone portions, each having a large opening diameter, with the cylindrical portion therebetween, and the gas chamber is formed inside the cylindrical portion forming the sealed container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation
    Inventors: Takanori Iijima, Amane Majima, Toshiyuki Uchii, Akira Shimamura, Norimitsu Kato
  • Patent number: 10916394
    Abstract: A gas circuit breaker includes a gas suppresser composed of a protruded portion which is formed on a horizontal surface facing an exhaust cylinder of a shaft guide and which forms a gap between itself and the exhaust cylinder and an enlarged portion which is adjacent to the protruded portion and where a gap to the exhaust cylinder is enlarged so that the shaft guide, which operates along an inner circumferential surface of the exhaust cylinder, which is provided to an inner circumferential portion of a movable side main conductor and is provided to outer circumferences of an exhaust shaft and an operation rod, and couples the operation rod with the exhaust shaft, is axially adjacent to a sliding member that slides along the exhaust cylinder with no space to the exhaust cylinder and suppresses discharge of heated and pressurized insulating gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiaki Sakuyama, Hajime Urai, Masanao Terada, Ryoichi Shiobara, Takahiro Nishimura, Makoto Hirose, Yuichiro Yamane
  • Patent number: 10763062
    Abstract: A switching device for an encapsulated electric power distribution switchgear and an electric power distribution switchgear with at least one such switching device are disclosed. The switching device has a first electrically conducting housing which encloses an actuator mechanism for a first contact assembly and a second electrically conducting housing which encloses a second contact assembly. The first electrically conducting housing is arranged at a distance from the second electrically conducting housing. The switching device further has a third housing which is electrically insulating and arranged between the first electrically conducting housing and the second electrically conducting housing. The switching device is a puffer type switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Magne Saxegaard, Richard Lauritzen, Ståle Talmo, Stanley Lohne
  • Patent number: 10395855
    Abstract: A switch includes a first contact and a second contact that are placed along an operating shaft and can reciprocate with respect to each other. An end of the second contact opposite to an end thereof on the side of the first contact is housed in a housing space of a housing box. The pressure in the housing space is increased due to an arc generated when the first contact approaches the second contact. The increased in the pressure causes the second contact to move toward the first contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masato Kubota, Tomotaka Yano
  • Patent number: 10049839
    Abstract: A gas circuit breaker having a pair of contacts and a pair of exhaust conductors. An exhaust hole in the pair of exhaust conductors is provided with an insulation cover having an opening. The cover has a guide on an opening end on the side near the pair of contacts and an opening end on the side far from the pair of contacts respectively. The guide has an exhaust hole protective guide and a high-temperature gas passage dividing guide. A first gas flow passage is between an exhaust hole protective guide and a high-temperature gas passage dividing guide, and a second gas flow passage is between the high-temperature gas passage dividing guides. The first gas flow passage is narrower than the second gas flow passage. An end of the exhaust hole protective guide on the first gas flow passage side is projected toward the high-temperature gas passage dividing guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki Uchiyama, Noriyuki Yaginuma, Daisuke Nomura, Hiroyuki Nakamichi, Yuji Kaneko
  • Patent number: 9251981
    Abstract: A circuit breaker unit has first and second arcing contact pieces. A breaker gap is formed between the two arcing contact pieces. A switching gas channel leads to the breaker gap and guides the switching gas to a switching gas outlet opening of the circuit breaker unit. The switching gas channel is formed with first and second pipe sections that overlap each other at least in sections and have discharge openings in their cover surfaces. Continuous discharge openings in the first and in the second pipe sections are axially offset in relation to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Radu-Marian Cernat, Volker Lehmann, Andrzej Nowakowski
  • Patent number: 9136055
    Abstract: An on-load tap changer is provided having a vacuum interrupter that is actuated by a shaft of an actuation assembly. A damper dampens the movement of the shaft. The damper provides more dampening when the shaft is closing the vacuum interrupter than when the shaft is opening the vacuum interrupter. The damper includes a housing at least partially defining an interior chamber into which the shaft extends. A piston with openings extending therethrough is disposed in the interior chamber and is secured to the shaft so as to be movable therewith. A blocking structure is operable to block the openings in the piston when the shaft is closing the vacuum interrupter and to un-block the openings in the piston when the shaft is opening the vacuum interrupter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: ABB Technology AG
    Inventors: Robert Alan Elick, Jon Christopher Brasher
  • Patent number: 9029726
    Abstract: A circuit breaker includes a first contact and a second contact. An electric arc zone is disposed between the contacts. A feed channel opens into the electric arc zone, connecting the electric arc zone to a hot gas reservoir volume. The hot gas reservoir volume, in turn, is connected to a compression volume. An outflow opening is disposed in a wall of the compression volume. The outflow opening is permanently open, at least in a contacting state of the contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Radu-Marian Cernat
  • Patent number: 7848084
    Abstract: A gas-insulated equipment such as a gas-insulated switchgear provided according to the invention can efficiently improve dielectric strength of an entire electrode system considering electric field distribution of the electrodes and conductors and improving insulation coordination so that miniaturization of the entire device can be achieved. The gas-insulated switchgear includes insulating gas sealed within an earth metal container and an insulating spacer insulating and supporting high-voltage receiving portions. Surfaces of shielding electrodes having a larger diameter than that of high-voltage conductors are covered with thick dielectric coatings, and surfaces of the high-voltage conductors are covered with thin dielectric coatings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Hama, Hitoshi Sadakuni, Takuya Otsuka, Kiyoshi Inami, Eiichi Nagao
  • Patent number: 7820933
    Abstract: A circuit breaker comprises a puffer volume (9) and at least one overpressure valve (16) for discharging gas from the puffer volume (9), if the pressure therein exceeds a given threshold. The overpressure valve (16) is formed by a piston (17) and a spring (19) as well as by a cavity (18) in the stationary support body (10) of the moveable contact assembly (2). The overpressure valve (16) is of compact and simple design, has low hysteresis and large cross-section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: ABB Technology AG
    Inventors: Helmut Heiermeier, Kurt Kammerl, Timo Kehr, Stephan Grob
  • Patent number: 7742283
    Abstract: A gas-insulated equipment such as a gas-insulated switchgear provided according to the invention can efficiently improve dielectric strength of an entire electrode system considering electric field distribution of the electrodes and conductors and improving insulation coordination so that miniaturization of the entire device can be achieved. The gas-insulated switchgear includes insulating gas sealed within an earth metal container and an insulating spacer insulating and supporting high-voltage receiving portions. Surfaces of shielding electrodes having a larger diameter than that of high-voltage conductors are covered with thick dielectric coatings, and surfaces of the high-voltage conductors are covered with thin dielectric coatings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Hama, Hitoshi Sadakuni, Takuya Otsuka, Kiyoshi Inami, Eiichi Nagao
  • Publication number: 20090078680
    Abstract: An arc chamber is disclosed for a gas-insulated high-voltage switch. It contains a heating volume for accommodating compressed quenching gas from an arc zone. A part of the wall of the heating volume is formed by a piston which is displaceable against a restoring force. The piston is arranged as differential piston and has on its side facing away from the heating volume a piston step which forms a first working surface (A2) acting in an expansion space and a second working surface (A1-A2) acting in an insulating-gas-filled storage space. Through the piston, a duct connecting the heating volume with the storage space is also conducted which is opened when the insulating-gas pressure (p2) in the storage space is greater than the quenching-gas pressure (p1) in the heating volume.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Publication date: March 26, 2009
    Applicant: ABB Research Ltd.
    Inventors: Christian Franck, Martin Seeger
  • Patent number: 6831828
    Abstract: A compact and economical gas-insulated switchgear is provided. The gas-insulated switchgear includes: a grounding metal housing 1 filled with insulating gas, and in which the disconnector part 2 having a moving side electrode part 2a and a stationary side electrode part 2b is accommodated; and composite insulating shields 17a, 17b integrally formed into one metal-dielectric member in which surface of a high electric field part located in the vicinity of ends of openings is coated with a dielectric so as to cover the moving side and stationary side electrode parts 2a and 2b with the dielectric. To form the composite insulating shields 17a, 17b, a metal shield of less than 0.6 in non-uniform constant before coating with the dielectric is coated with dielectrics 18a, 18b having a thickness of not more than approximately 30% of an inter-electrode distance from a facing electric-field relaxation shield.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2004
    Assignee: TMT&D Corporation
    Inventors: Hirohide Aoki, Hiroyuki Hama, Takuya Ootsuka, Kouichi Oosumi, Yoshinori Shimizu, Kiyoshi Inami
  • Patent number: 6489581
    Abstract: The arc blast switch can have single or dual contact movement and possesses a break chamber with low gas compression, the switch includes a first contact and a second contact, the first contact being movable in a longitudinal axis and being secured to the break chamber in which the gas is compressed by a piston. A device for displacing the piston is arranged so that its movement changes direction inside the case of the switch after the gas compression stage, and the device includes a telescopic link connected to the piston. The length of the displacement of the piston inside the case during the compression stage is not less than the length of the displacement of the first contact during the compression stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventors: Joel Ozil, Michel Perret
  • Patent number: 6472628
    Abstract: A circuit-breaker including a first tube, and a second tube coaxial to the first tube, the first and second tubes being connected together via a piston provided with perforations and equipped with a valve member, the first tube having an end connecting to said piston, a moving arcing contact support being fixed rigidly to said piston on the other side from the first tube, wherein, with said piston having a bore of diameter D, said piston is provided with a groove, that end of said first tube which is connected to said piston being provided with n gaps allowing n claws to project, the end of at least one of the claws being provided with a rim that is received in said groove in said piston, said piston being provided with one or more passageways angularly in register with each claw provided with a rim, and making it possible for the rim(s) to be inserted axially as far as said groove, and then for the tube to be turned to cause the rim to penetrate into the groove portions that remain, and wherein said arcing c
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2002
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventors: Michel Nauche, Bruno Luscan
  • Patent number: 6207918
    Abstract: The invention relates to a compressed gas switch with two contact pieces, a contact element by-passing the contact pieces when in the on position, and two isolating distances connected to each other in series. The second contact piece opposing the first isolating distance is arranged axially by an annular piston to be displaceable forming a switching chamber. The switching chamber is separated from the heating chamber by a bulkhead partition having a current-dependent valve, and the second isolating distance is produced after opening of a blowing hole located between the second contact piece and the contact element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Dieter Lorenz, Bernd-Ulrich Habedank
  • Patent number: 6107590
    Abstract: Extending between a fixed tulip contact (1) and a slide tulip (4) is an arcing chamber (5) which is occupied in the closed position by a movable contact pin (3) which fills up both an exhaust (9) surrounded by the slide tulip (4) and a blowout opening (7) which is surrounded by the tulip contact (1) and connects the arcing chamber (5) to a pressure chamber (6). The arcing chamber (5) is surrounded by an annular heating volume (13) open toward the same. Arranged in the pressure chamber (6) is a charge (10) of explosive which is for the most part converted within approximately 10-30 ms after ignition to extinguishing gas, preferably predominantly nitrogen, the gas pressure moving the contact pin (3) toward the open position. After clearance of the blowout opening (7) and the exhaust (9), the arc drawn between the contact pin (3) and tulip contact (1) is blown out, something which is supported by the pressure buildup, to which the arc contributes, in the heating volume (13).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2000
    Assignee: ABB Research Ltd.
    Inventors: Jorgen Skindhoj, Bodo Bruhl, Kurt Kaltenegger, Lorenz Muller, Lutz Niemeyer, Thomas Schoenemann, Lukas Zehnder
  • Patent number: 6064025
    Abstract: A controller for electrical equipment, in particular for a high-voltage circuit-breaker, the equipment being housed in a casing filled with a dielectric gas under pressure. An interrupting chamber within the casing extinguishes arcs produced by the main circuit-breaker contacts. The equipment employs a contact connecting rod designed to be moved in translation by said controller. The controller employs an operating piston mounted to slide in a cylindrical element fixed to the casing and connected to a communication duct for communicating with the inside of the casing via an actuating valve in the engagement position. The controller further includes a suction enclosure connected to said cylindrical element and communicating with the inside thereof via a communication duct when the actuating valve is in the disengagement position. A suction piston is mounted to slide in the enclosure. In addition, a reciprocating drive mechanism drives the suction piston in a reciprocating motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom T & D SA
    Inventor: Edmond Thuries
  • Patent number: 5977502
    Abstract: The gas circuit breaker has a configuration such that a stationary contact section and a movable contact section are arranged in an arc-extinguishing gas sealed container, to face each other, and the movable contact section includes a hollow operating rod having an exhaust hole at its rear portion, a movable cylinder arranged around the rod, a hollow movable arc contact provided on the movable cylinder and an insulating nozzle surrounding the movable arc contact. The movable contact section further includes a stationary piston portion insertable/removable inside the movable cylinder, and the space formed by the movable cylinder and the current collecting cylinder fixed to the stationary piston portion is partitioned by a parting plate into a thermal pressure elevation room space at front side and a compression room space at rear side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Hitoshi Mizoguchi, Tadashi Mori, Hiromichi Kawano, Katsumi Suzuki, Mitsuru Toyoda
  • Patent number: 5898149
    Abstract: This power circuit-breaker has at least one cylindrically constructed arcing chamber which is provided with a stationary contact, with a moving contact and with a quenching zone between the two contacts. A shaft of the moving contact is permanently connected to a blowout volume which is closed off on the stationary contact side by an insulating nozzle through which at least one flow channel passes. The arcing chamber has a first compression volume which is operatively connected to the blowout volume and to a second compression volume. It is intended to provide a power circuit-breaker in which the blowing-out of the arc with pure SF.sub.6 gas is made stronger. This is achieved by providing a moving auxiliary piston between the first compression volume and the second compression volume and by the auxiliary piston being connected to the moving contact via a direction-changing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1999
    Assignee: Asea Brown Boveri AG
    Inventors: Ernst Berger, Christian Lindner
  • Patent number: 5898150
    Abstract: A gas-blast circuit-breaker includes a jacket filled with a dielectric gas. A mobile arc contact cooperates with a fixed arc contact within the jacket. The mobile arc contact is part of a mobile contact assembly which is displaceable axially in the jacket between a closed position and an open position. The mobile contact assembly includes a first tube carrying the mobile arc contact and a second tube, which is coaxial with the first tube, carrying a mobile permanent contact with a gas blast nozzle coupled thereto. A ring joins the first tube and the second tube to define a gas-blast chamber and a compression chamber on opposite sides of the ring. The compression chamber communicates with the gas-blast chamber. An annular piston having an annular recess closes the compression chamber. A compression spring influences the annular piston against a fixed front stop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1999
    Assignee: Gec Alsthom & D Sa
    Inventors: Bernard Gallix, Roger Ledru, Antoine Tolossi
  • Patent number: 5877465
    Abstract: A high-tension circuit-breaker includes fixed contacts and a mobile assembly including mobile contacts. The mobile assembly is connected to an operating mechanism by an operating rod. The circuit-breaker includes a device for damping movement of the rod at the end of a tripping maneuver. This device includes a damper piston entrained by movement of the rod at the end of the tripping maneuver and moving in a cylinder in one direction such that the volume between the piston and an end wall of the cylinder increases during the maneuver, causing a pressure drop in this volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 2, 1999
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom T & D SA
    Inventor: Michel Perret
  • Patent number: 5859399
    Abstract: A puffer type circuit breaker comprising a compression chamber closed by a pressure wall of a semi-moving piston, a first mechanism for preventing the piston from moving during a first portion of the opening displacement of the moving contact assembly, and a second mechanism for axially displacing the piston together with the moving contact assembly during the second portion of the same displacement. The piston includes a cylindrical guide portion secured to the wall. The first mechanism comprises an abutment member disposed between the end of the guide portion of the piston and a fixed retaining part, said abutment member being retractable. The second mechanism comprises an arrangement for retracting the abutment member, and acting at the end of the first displacement portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom T & D SA
    Inventor: Michel Perret
  • Patent number: 5814781
    Abstract: A puffer type gas-blast circuit breaker includes a guide section arranged at a coupler section between a shaft section of a puffer cylinder and a dielectric operating rod, for guiding both in the axis direction of a current interruption section and in the radial direction thereof, thereby to suppress or eliminate the occurrence of misalignment of center axis between movable components and fixed ones thus causing a gap to remain constant between a dielectric nozzle and a fixed arc contact. With such an arrangement, the gap between the nozzle and the contact can be kept uniform even when the pole-to-pole distance is increased with an increase in the high withstanding voltage of the breaker. This ensures that the surface-creeping electric field on the inner surface of the dielectric nozzle can be at a desired design value, thus enabling to provide a stable pole-to-pole insulation characteristic during current interruption operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1998
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Osamu Koyanagi, Kastuichi Kashimura, Yoshihito Asai, Yukio Kurosawa, Goro Daimon, Kenji Tsuchiya, Eisaku Mizufune, Kogi Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 5808257
    Abstract: A gas-blast gas-insulated high-voltage circuit-breaker comprises a fixed main contact, a fixed arc contact and a mobile assembly comprising a main contact, an arc contact and a compression volume cooperating with a fixed piston and communicating with a blast volume leading to a blast nozzle. The compression volume is provided with a valve preventing the gas passing from the blast volume to the compression volume. The piston comprises openings for evacuating the gas from the compression volume during tripping, these openings being closed between the start of compression of the compression volume and the closure of the valve and open upon closure of the valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 15, 1998
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom T & D SA
    Inventor: Edmond Thuries
  • Patent number: 5783791
    Abstract: A puffer-type gas insulated interrupter has stationary and moving main contacts, stationary and moving arc contacts for discharging an arc, and a puffer cylinder for electric arc suppression. At the time of current interruption, the puffer cylinder moves together with the moving arc contact to blow electric insulation gas to the arc between the stationary and moving arc contacts. The blown gas flows between the arc contacts and is then discharged through a gas discharge passage. A duplex puffer chamber is provided in the gas discharge passage near the moving arc contact. The duplex puffer chamber holds or confines the insulation gas, and causes the same to be heated and pressurized by the arc and to blow out toward the stationary arc contact. A gas flow from the duplex puffer chamber cooperates with a gas flow from the puffer cylinder to effectively suppress the arc, and therefore the gas pressure in the puffer cylinder can be reduced, so that an operating force for the interrupter can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 21, 1998
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Wataru Tamura, Toru Tsubaki
  • Patent number: 5767471
    Abstract: In a pressurized gas circuit-breaker the mobile contact member is fixed to a connecting rod that passes coaxially through the fixed braking cylinder. The braking cylinder has transverse walls at both ends so as to delimit a cylinder. The connecting rod has a drive abutment that drives the braking piston in a final section of the opening travel, which increases the pressure in the first sub-space and reduces the pressure in the second sub-space. The braking piston is disposed on a bush around the connecting rod, the bush and the connecting rod delimiting an annular cylinder space between the drive member and a counter-abutment on the bush, a pressure being generated when the circuit-breaker opens. In this way a high braking force with no impact is very rapidly obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 16, 1998
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom T & D AG
    Inventors: Johannes Blatter, Fabrizio Sciullo
  • Patent number: 5742016
    Abstract: In a gas-blast switch with a compression device with a compression piston and a compression cylinder, at least one of which can be moved by the drive during the cut-off process, starting from a cut-in position, reducing a compression space delimited by them, the initial quenching gas pressure is increased in that the compression piston is moved toward the compression cylinder in advance. In order to take advantage of the magnetic effect of the break current, an armature which can be moved by the magnetic field of a stator which can be excited by the break current is provided, producing a pressure influence causing the advance movement of the compression piston via a compression chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1998
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Klaus-Peter Rolff
  • Patent number: 5723840
    Abstract: A gas-dielectric high-tension interrupter of the arc-puffer type in which the puff of gas is brought about by the combined effect of an excess pressure developed in a compression chamber and intensified by the heating caused by the arc radiation, which is optically guided from an arcing chamber to the compression chamber, and of the vacuum developed in a suction chamber which is put into communication with the arcing chamber at a predetermined minimum arcing time (TAM).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 3, 1998
    Assignee: Ansaldo Industria S.p.A.
    Inventors: Predrag Bojic, Sergio Rizzo
  • Patent number: 5589673
    Abstract: A self-blow-out switch having a compression device has a pressure chamber heated by electric arc energy connected to a compression space, optionally with valve control. The compression space is connected to a low-pressure space via a pressure relief valve and a refill valve. Two valve disks of the relief and refill valves, which are located between the compression space and the low-pressure space are designed as two concentric washers of different diameters, lying in direct contact with each other and partly overlapping each other, and integrated to form a single valve unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1996
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Volker Lehmann, Heiner Marin, Ingolf Reiher
  • Patent number: 5587571
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a circuit-breaker including, inside a casing filled with a dielectric gas, a first arcing contact connected to a first terminal, and a second arcing contact having the same longitudinal axis as the first contact. The second arcing contact is connected to a second terminal, is mounted to move axially in a fixed cylinder, and co-operates with a moving piston to form a compression chamber. The circuit-breaker further includes a mechanism for driving the piston in a direction that is opposite to the direction in which the second contact is displaced. The driving mechanism acts during a first portion of the displacement of the moving contact from the closed position to the open position the circuit-breaker also includes a mechanism for constraining the piston to move with the moving contact during a second portion of the same displacement of the moving contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1996
    Assignee: GEC Alstom T & D SA
    Inventor: Michel Perret
  • Patent number: 5567923
    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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1996
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom T&D SA
    Inventor: Michel Perret
  • Patent number: 5543597
    Abstract: A first puffer chamber is formed by a puffer cylinder having a substantially cylindrical flange portion and a shaft portion, and a fixedly disposed piston. The piston is formed in a cylindrical shape sealed with respect to an external space, and is constituted to be accommodated in the flange portion of the puffer cylinder at the circuit breaking position of the circuit breaking unit. The internal space of the piston is constituted as a second puffer chamber which is designed to communicate with the first puffer chamber. The gas accumulated in the second puffer chamber is continuously blown out toward between the electrodes, thereby prolonging an effective interruptable arc time span without increasing the size of the circuit interrupting unit and operating unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1996
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuji Watanabe, Youichi Ohshita, Masatomo Ohno, Masanori Tsukushi, Shunji Tokuyama