Eaton Corporation

Rodney William Bruner

William Edward Wilkie

Neal E Rowe

Robert Yanniello

Steven Dale Walker

William E Wilkie, Ii

John Stewart Bartholomew

Jack L Brown

A switchgear assembly in which a number of cells housing electrical switching apparatus such as circuit breakers are vertically stacked in a forward compartment has combined arc shield/wire trays between cells for terminating secondary wiring for easy access through front doors on the switchgear assembly and for protecting the secondary wiring from circuit breaker arc gases. The arc gases are deflected by an upwardly and rearwardly inclined panel forming the back wall of the wire tray. A vertical wall forward of the inclined panel mounts a lower horizontal row of terminal blocks forward of an upper row. A wireway has a vertical section in a forward corner of the cabinet beside the vertically stacked cells which communicates with the wire trays, and a horizontal section extending rearward under the top wall of the cabinet. An inclined gutter provides a transition between the top of the vertical section and the forward end of the horizontal section. External wiring enters the wireway either through a bottom access opening aligned with the vertical section or a top access opening in the horizontal section. A depending lip on the rear of the arc shield diverts the arc gases laterally into a vertical chamber behind the vertical section of the wireway for expansion and cooling.

Combined arc shield/wire tray for switchgear and switchgear assemblies incorporating same

Main circuit breakers and/or tie circuit breakers are connected by upper and lower disconnects to upper and lower sections, respectively, of split risers in a low voltage switchgear assembly. An upper horizontal bus is connected to the upper sections of the split risers while a lower horizontal bus is connected to the lower sections. However, with the main or tie breaker mounted in the 'C' position of a switchgear section, the gap between the upper and lower sections of the split risers is positioned vertically such that one of the phase conductors of the lower horizontal bus is above the gap. A unique connector extends downward from this phase conductor and is connected to the corresponding phase of the lower section of the vertical bus through the lower stab which engages the lower disconnect for the main or tie breaker.

Switchgear assembly with novel arrangement for connecting a tie or main

The interface conductors, stabs and runbacks, which are engaged at first ends by quick disconnects on electrical apparatus in a switchgear assembly, are fabricated from a stacked pair of elongated, flat conductors secured together at the first ends by elongated fasteners which are compressed into countersunk through apertures in the flat conductors to form a joint with no lateral projections. The interface conductors are supported adjacent the disconnects by a first support having a base member with through openings in which the conductors are snugly supported, and rigid projections with planar surfaces extending from the base member toward the quick disconnects alongside the openings and against which the interface conductors are secured adjacent free ends of the projections. A second support spaced rearward of the first support provides additional support for the runbacks. Interphase supports formed by C-channels are provided for the runbacks between the first and second supports.

Switchgear conductors and mounting arrangements therefor

A flexible arrangement for providing secondary terminations, such as for switchgear in electric power distribution systems, includes a plurality of molded blocks each having at least one pair of oppositely directed hooks extending from a rear face. The hooks pass through complimentary notches in a mounting slot in a mounting panel, and engage the mounting panel with the molded blocks displaced along the mounting slot so that the hooks are out of registration with the notches. A locking member blocks the realignment of the hooks with the notches. Molded filler blocks without the terminal members can be substituted for one or more molded terminal blocks when fewer terminations are needed. There filler blocks have hand grips such as preferably a longitudinal rib molded on a front face, for inserting and removing the filler block from the slot.

Arrangement for mounting terminal blocks in a mounting panel

Hollow risers in switchgear are preferably formed by a confronting pair of spaced apart U-channels. Stab conductors for connecting switching apparatus in the switchgear to the risers have a pair of flat members straddling and secured to the two U-channels by mounts which include backing plates bearing against the inner surfaces of the confronting legs of two U-channels and bolts extending through the stab conductors and U-channel legs and engaging threaded apertures in the backing plates. To accommodate a range of current ratings, the confronting channels can have first and second leg thicknesses t.sub.1 and t.sub.2, which can be different but the outer widths of the channels are all the same. The backing plates have a first surface with a third thickness in one section and a fourth thickness in a second section. This first surface bears against the U-channel legs when the legs are of different thicknesses and t.sub.1 plus t.sub.3 is made equal to t.sub.2 plus t.sub.4. The second face of each backing plate is planar and bears against the inner surface of the legs of the U-channels when t.sub.1 is equal to t.sub.2.

Heat sinks extending rearward from and connected to the risers of a switchgear assembly by the same fasteners which secure the stabs to the risers dissipate the joule heat generated by current flow through the risers and stabs and accommodate for the higher temperature rise permitted in the power circuit breakers engaged by the stabs. The heat sinks are formed by a pair of heat sink members straddling the risers, each of which has an elongated flat body with an extended flat mounting surface on a first face which provides extended surface engagement with a stab. The elongated body projects rearward beyond the stab and a first set of transverse fins project from the first face rearward of the stab toward the first set of fins on the other heat sink member of the pair. A second or additional set of fins project laterally outward from a second face opposite the first face of the elongated body and are dimensioned to maintain appropriate through-air clearance with the additional fins on the heat sinks on an adjacent riser.

Growing community of inventors

Fletcher, NC, United States of America

Rodney William Bruner