The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 21, 1980
Filed:
Oct. 04, 1978
Joseph R Rostron, Murrysville, PA (US);
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
The invention provides for a gas puffer type current interrupter having a pair of separable contacts, one of which is surrounded by a nozzle formed of electrically insulating material. Upon separation, an arc is drawn between the contacts through the throat of the nozzle. The method of the invention includes permitting the arc to fill and clog the nozzle throat thereby restricting the escape of dielectric gas which is being forced into the nozzle. The clogging of the nozzle by the arc is permitted to an extent sufficient to raise the temperature within the nozzle such that significant ablation of the nozzle material occurs interior of the nozzle. The ablation or evaporation of the nozzle material produces a significant increase in pressure within the nozzle which serves to rapidly extinguish the arc. The interrupter includes a nozzle having a throat size selected so that the cross sectional area of the arc substantially fills the throat. The nozzle will be clogged a sufficient portion of the time between contact separation and arc extinction to produce the desired ablation of the nozzle material.