General Electric Company

Eric J Graham

Louis A Rosen

Clarence W Walker

Ira B Goldman

Steven English Richard

Allan P Luers

Richard K Mann

Laura G Dunn

Thomas D Collins

Jeffrey Scott Berliner

An electric power busway system comprises a bus bar support housing with the opposite side plates of the housing shaped with troughs to hold the bus bars in their relative positions, preventing the bus bars from moving towards or away from one another and providing the necessary short-circuit protection and bending resistance. The metal side plates are preferably fastened together without the use of fasteners or the need for welding, through the use of a punch and die tool set. A protective insulating sheet is sandwiched between the insulated bus bars and the housing to protect the bus bar insulation coating from ruptures or tears. Clamping blocks are provided outside the protective busway housing to apply friction on the bus bars within, keeping them from sliding out of the housing assembly. The integral busway housing and clamping serve as a ground conduction facility, with the clamping blocks providing a mechanism to connect the busway section to an adjoining section.

Thermally efficient power busway system with integral clamping mechanism

An electric power busway system has multi-phase power bus bar conductors that are each housed within an individual duct. Individually housing the bus bar conductors provides short-circuit bending resistance as well as superior thermal heat dissipation characteristics because of the improved conductive heat transfer between the bus bar conductors to the individual housing, as well as convective heat transfer from the individual housing assemblies into the ambient air. Wedge-type support braces retain each housed bus bar in position and provide short circuit support.

Busway system with wedge brace supports

A power busway distribution section length which may be adjusted before, during, or after installation to better facilitate proper busway location and reduce installation and modification costs. The section length comprises two busway stubs which slide independently between a center busway splice-plate joint. Overlapping sheet metal enclosures are used to provide protection from inadvertent contact with live bus bars and allow the busway section length to be adjusted to a discrete length.

Adjustable section length for power busway distribution system

An improved busway end box construction of the present invention terminates a busway run and provides insulation between the phase bars and the ground bar. The assembly includes an adjustable-height enclosure and an insulation sub-assembly. Adjustment slot in the top cover of the enclosure allows the top cover of the end box enclosure to slidably move up or down, varying the height of the busway end box. The insulator sub-assembly includes insulating walls nesting in between U-shaped comb-like brackets. Notches in the insulating walls provide vertical height to the insulator walls, allowing the insulator sub-assembly height to be self-adjusted as the height of the busway end box varies.

Adjustable busway end box

A busway construction with a standard elbow section that can be adjusted to a wide range of positions to eliminate the need for specialized elbow sections. This adjustable elbow standard busway section with a full-range rotation is designed to connect to other sections of busway which are at non-standard angles to each other.

Adjustable busway elbow section

The electric busway busbars within a plug-in busway system are covered by an insulating cover to prevent inadvertent contact when the busbars are energized. To allow contact with the busbars for busway plug connection, the insulating cover is arranged for automatic exposure of the busway plug access openings by means of a sliding shutter. The shutter automatically returns to the closed position immediately upon removal of the busway plug.

Growing community of inventors

Farmington, CT, United States of America

Eric J Graham