General Electric Company

Electric Power Research Institute Incorporated

James J Carroll

Gerhard Frind

John G Leach

John H Van Noy

Joseph A Rich

Graham R Mitchell

John H VanNoy

Radha K Ranjan

A vacuum interrupter includes an evacuated envelope and a pair of facing contacts situated therein. The contacts are relatively movable along a first axis from an engaged position to a disengaged position. Conductors extending through the envelope are provided for connecting the contacts to an external circuit. A pair of magnetic field coils are disposed on opposite sides of the contacts and connected in series therewith for establishing an axial magnetic field in the space between the contacts when the contacts are in the disengaged position.

Vacuum interrupter and method of modifying a vacuum interrupter

An exothermically assisted electric fuse, having at least one exothermic body disposed in heat transfer relationship with at least a portion of each fusible element of the fuse, a triggering circuit for initiating an exothermic reaction in response to an overcurrent through the fuse, and a containment body partially enclosing the exothermic body for directing the heat energy released by the exothermic reaction. The containment body is disposed so as to confine and direct the heat energy in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to a plane containing the portion of the fusible element which is in heat transfer relationship with the exothermic body. In a preferred embodiment of such a fuse, the fusible element is wound around a support so that the fuse windings form the general shape of a cylinder, and the containment body is disposed so that the heat energy is directed in a radial direction with respect to the cylinder formed by the fuse windings. The exothermic body preferably comprises a two-part structure in which a mixture of boron and potassium perchlorate acts as a primer for a larger body of exothermic material formed from a mixture of aluminum and potassium perchlorate.

Exothermically assisted electric fuse

Improvement of the peak current interruption performance of a vacuum interrupter is obtained by configuring the conductive leads to the vacuum interrupter in a manner whereby the magnetic field generated by current in the conductive leads and impinging upon the space between a pair of contacts of the vacuum interrupter is minimized, thereby resulting in better performance of the vacuum interrupter.

Vacuum interrupter

A high voltage fuse for interrupting a wide range of currents and especially suited for low current interruption is disclosed. The fuse is comprised of a fuse element having a first and a second plurality of portions of reduced cross-sections. The second plurality of portions further comprise two or more parallel conducting paths some of which carry a portion of material which has a lower melting temperature than the melting temperature of the material of the fuse element. The parameters of the first and second plurality of reduced cross-section portions, the lower melting point material, and the fuse element itself are selected to adapt the fuse to provide proper protection for the various current conditions to which a high voltage transformer is subjected. The fuse element provides fast rupturing under short-circuit current conditions while also providing the characteristic of withstanding relatively high inrush current conditions. The fuse element further provides improved low current clearing ability for the fuse, and a fuse which responds quickly to through fault (secondary fault) conditions in a transformer.

High voltage fuse for interrupting a wide range of currents and

The invention provides a vacuum interrupter with improved separation of functional elements. The interrupter includes separable contacts for carrying continuous current and rod electrode arrays for carrying fault currents. The housing for the interrupter is evacuated, and has a plurality of interior chambers. The rod electrodes are in one chamber and the separable contacts are in an adjacent chamber. A communicating opening is provided between the chambers. The rod electrodes and separable contacts are connected in parallel in a common circuit. When the contacts are separated, arcing products are conveyed to the adjacent chamber through the communicating opening to initiate arcing between the rod electrodes.

Vacuum interrupter with increased separation of functions

This electric circuit breaker comprises a plurality of vacuum-type circuit interrupters electrically connected in parallel with each other and means for opening the interrupters substantially simultaneously during circuit interruption. Each interrupter comprises an evacuated envelope and a pair of relatively-movable contacts located within the envelope to provide an inter-contact gap across which arcing can occur during circuit interruption. The stationary contacts of the two interrupters are respectively mounted on stationary contact rods that have their outer ends closely adjacent each other. A communicating passageway extends between the two inter-contact gaps through the stationary contacts and the stationary contact rods for conveying arcing products from any inter-contact gap that is then arcing to any that is not then arcing, thereby promoting concurrent arcing at said gaps during high-current interruptions.

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Clifton Park, NY, United States of America

James J Carroll