Gec Alsthom Energie Inc.

Gaetan Daigneault

Daniel Demissy

Jean-Guy Chevalier

Hadi Alidou

An outdoor grounding section switch has a female contact and a male contact at the end of a grounding blade that can be driven. The female contact is constituted by at least one hollow tubular thimble (11, 15), housed inside a vertical tubular insulator (3) that is closed at its top end and open at a bottom end. The male contact (25) is a vertical cylinder penetrating into the insulator (3) and the thimble during closing. The open end of the insulator (3) is equipped with a metal part (14), the inside of which is provided with a plurality of radially-directed lugs (14A), facing the periphery of the male contact vertical cylinder and stopping short of the vertical cylinder to break ice accumulating off the end of the male contact during section switch closure. A quick-break vacuum switch is connected in parallel with the ends of the thimble (11, 15) controlled by the displacement of the section switch male contact through an over center, quick-break mechanism so that the quick-break vacuum switch opens after the male and female contacts of the section switch separate from each other by an isolation distance.

Exposed high voltage outdoor disconnector for operation under icing

A high-voltage circuit-breaker comprises a first insulative support column carrying a first current terminal and a pivoting cut-off arm provided with a first contact. An insulative column rotates to maneuver the cut-off arm. A second insulative support column carries a second current terminal and a jaw-type second contact cooperating with the first contact when the circuit-breaker is closed. The pivoting arm rotates about its axis through 90.degree. at the start of an opening maneuver or at the end of a closing maneuver to close the jaw on opening the circuit-breaker and to open the jaw on closing the circuit-breaker. The cut-off arm is extended by a cylindrical assembly containing a resistance and comprising a metal exterior tubular portion connected electrically to the resistance. The tubular portion comes into contact at the end of a circuit-breaker closing maneuver or at the beginning of a circuit-breaker opening maneuver with two pole horns mechanically attached to the second column and electrically connected to the second current terminal. The resistance is then inserted into the circuit of the circuit-breaker via the pole horns and the tubular portion. The resistance is short-circuited when the cut-off arm has rotated 90.degree. therefor about its axis at the end of the closing maneuver.

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St-Hubert, Canada

Gaetan Daigneault