US3895199A

US3895199A - Multi-pole vacuum switching apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3895199A
Application number: US337177A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wolfgang Frewe; Hans-Jurgen Lendt
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens AG
Priority date: 1972-03-06
Filing date: 1973-03-01
Publication date: 1975-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-15
Also published as: ZA731265B; FR2174839A1; AU5248473A; GB1412063A; AU469944B2; SE386001B; DE2211413B2; CA985353A; DE2211413C3; JPS546039Y2; FR2174839B1; JPS48114055U; DE2211413A1

Abstract

A vacuum switching apparatus includes at least two switching vessels arranged side by side and operable by an actuator device. Insulating partitions are situated between the switching vessels and are formed by insulator members which each enclose a switching vessel and are arranged side by side with a spacing therebetween. One application of the invention is in three-phase vacuum contractors for voltages of up to about 10 kV.

Description

United States Patent I [191 witflvmmcm Frewe et al.

[4 1 July 15,1975

MULTI-POLE VACUUM SWITCHING APPARATUS Inventors: Wolfgang Frewe; Hans-Jurgen Lendt, both of Berlin, Germany Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich, Germany Filed: Mar. 1, 1973 App]. No.: 337,177

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 6, 1972 Germany 2211413 US. Cl 200/144 B; 200/144 R; 200/305 Int. Cl. H0lh 33/66 Field of Search 200/144 B, 168 R, 166 L,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1967 Roxburgh et al 200/144 B 3,440,378 4/1969 Baird 200/144 R 3,560,682 2/1971 Kohler et a1. 200/144 R 3,684,849 8/1972 Zubaty 200/144 R Primary ExaminerRobert S. Macon Attorney, Agent, or FirmKenyon & Kenyon Reilley Carr & Chapin A vacuum switching apparatus includes at least two switching vessels arranged side by side and operable by an actuator device. Insulating partitions are situated between the switching vessels and are formed by insulator members which each enclose a switching vessel and are arranged side by side with a spacing therebetween. One application of the invention is in three-phase vacuum contractors for voltages of up to ABSTRACT about 10 kV.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENIEDJ L m5 3.895; 199

SHEET 1 Pmim'fimm 1 1915 3 8 95; 199 SHEET 2 Fig. 2 121 42 2019 MULTI-POLE VACUUM SWITCHING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to multi-pole vacuum switching apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus having switching vessels arranged side by side and operated by an actuator device, with a partition of insulating material situated between the switching vessels.

2. Description of the Prior Art Vacuum switching apparatus is known to provide, among other things, the advantage of smaller dimensions when compared with other switch gear, particularly switch gear having contacts operating in air. In the switching apparatus presently known, however, the space saving is not as great as the small dimensions of the vacuum vessels themselves would lead one to expect. This is caused, particularly in multi-pole switching apparatus, by the fact that a sufficient insulation distance must be kept between the external, voltagecarrying parts of the switching vessels. It is already known to arrange partitions of insulating material between the vacuum switching vessels of multi-pole vacuum switch gear. These partitions make it possible to reduce the distance between the switching vessels to a certain extent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide multi-pole vacuum switching apparatus with minimum spacing between the switching vessels.

It is another object to provide multi-pole vacuum switching apparatus having adequate leakage paths between the apparatus parts.

These and other objects are achieved by the present invention which includes a vacuum switching apparatus having at least two switching vessels arranged side by side and operable by an actuator device. Insulating partitions are situtated between the switching vessels and are formed by insulator members which each enclose a switching vessel and are arranged side by side with a spacing therebetween. One application of the invention is in three-phase vacuum contractors for voltages of up to about kV.

According to the invention, insulator members forming the partitions each enclose a switching vessel and are arranged side by side with spacing. The spacing of the switching vessels can thereby be reduced to an extent which cannot be made smaller because of the prescribed minimum spacings between the connecting bars of the switching equipment. Essential here is the gap remaining between the insulating members, which particularly contributes to an increase of the leakage paths.

The insulator members can be provided with ribs in order to create additional leakage paths. The insulator members can furthermore be made of U-shaped design and attached with their center part to a supporting structural part of the switching apparatus. With this design of the insulator members, the switching vessels are enclosed on almost all sides, except for the open front side of the insulator members. The actuator device of the switching apparatus can be located in a box-like housing to which the insulator members are attached, the members designed to overhang the housing with ribbed ends. Overall, leakage paths of such length are achieved whereby the spacings of the switching vessels can be reduced to less than one-half, as compared to known arrangements.

Passage openings, accessible from the front, can be formed through drawn-in bosses in the sidewalls of the insulator members for the fastening elements of the insulator members. The attachment points are thereby located so far inward that the insulator members can be brought closely together down to a spacing required for the formation of the leakage paths.

For actuating each switching vessel, a lever of insulating material can be provided which is brought through an extension of the central part of the insulator member and protrudes into the space between the side walls. An interruption of the leakage paths by metallic parts is thereby avoided. The lever of insulating material can be pivoted in the side walls of the insulator members. The insulator member can also be used for attaching the connecting bars in such a manner that the connection points are provided at the upper and the lower end of each insulator member. At the same time one obtains thereby clearly visible current paths which extend in the vertical direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a three-pole vacuum contactor in a view onto the three switching vessels arranged side by side illustrative of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 shows a cross section through the vacuum contactor according to FIG. 1 in the region of one switching vessel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a threepole vacuum contactor 1 designed for a nominal voltage of 10 kV. Three identical insulator members 2 are arranged side by side in such a manner that there always remains a space 3 between two adjacent insulator members. It is to be noted with respect to the FIGS. 1 and 2 that identical numerals are used to indicate identical parts of the vacuum contactor 1. The insulator members 2 are of essentially U-shaped design and each enclose one switching vessel 4. For operation, i.e., for switching the switching vessels 4 on and off, there serves in each case a lever 5 consisting of insulating material, of which only the front end is visible in FIG. 1. Each lever 5 is pivoted in the

side walls

6 and 7 of the associated insulator member 2 by means of a pin 10, shown in FIG. 2. The engagement points of the bearing pins 10 in the

side walls

6 and 7 are covered by the

cover plates

11 and 12.

The switching vessels 4 have connecting

studs

13 and 14 arranged in the axis of the switching vessel, of which the lower connecting studs 14 serve at the same time for clamping each' switching vessel in a stationary clamping member 8 which is connected with a connector member 15. The upper connecting studs 13 are movable in the direction of the axis of the switching vessels 4 and are connected with the lever 5 by means of a pin 16. The connecting studs 13 are connected by means of a flexible conductor ribbon 17 to an upper connector member 20. The

connector members

15 and 20 are located at the upper and the lower end, respectively, of the central parts 18 of the insulator members 2 and are fastened by screws 19.

An electromagnetic actuator device 12 is schematically shown in FIG. 2 and serves for operating' -the levers 5. Actuator device 21 is located in a box-like housing 22 consisting of sheet steel. The actuator device 21 is laid out in the usual manner for operation with an auxiliary voltage, for example. 220 volts a.c. ln PK]. 2, a stationary magnet part 23 and a movable magnet part 24 are shown, which latter part 24 is held in the rest position shown by return springs 25. A rod 26, which constitutes the common drive member of the levers 5, is connected with the movable magnet part 24. To this end, each lever engages with a fork-shaped end over the rod 26. The levers 5 each extend through a ringshaped extension 27 of the insulator members 2, which project into the housing 22. The extensions 27 thereby create leakage paths between the grounded housing 22 and the actuator device 21 located therein, respectively, and the high-voltage part of the contactor l, of which the switching vessels 4 and the connecting

bars

15 and 20 are a part.

As may be seen from FIG. 2, the lever 5 is swung about the bearing pin in the direction of the arrow 28 when the movable magnet part 24 is pulled down. The stud 13 of the switching vessels 4 then also moves in the direction of the arrow 28 under the influence of the atmospheric pressure and thereby closes the contacts of the switching vessel.

The box-like housing 22 can be fastened with its wall 30 to a frame or another support. The opposite wall 31 of the housing 22 serves as the attachment surface of the insulator members 2. For mounting, the insulator members 2 are each provided with four drawn-in bosses, of which two bosses 32 are situated at the upper end and two further bosses 34 at the lower end. These drawn-in bosses extend over the depth of the

side walls

6 and 7 in such a manner that in the central part 18, clamping surfaces 35 and 36, accessible from the front with a passage opening for a suitable fastening element, are generated in the direction of the arrow 33, i.e., with the usual mounting of the vacuum contactor 1. In FIG. 1, screws 36 are shown with an internal hexagon head as the fastening elements.

As shown in the Figures, the

side walls

6 and 7 of the insulator members 2 are provided on their inner sides with ribs 40. At the upper and the lower end, the insulator members 2 extend overall beyond the housing 22 and overhang the same. The overhanging ends are provided with external ribs 41 and internal ribs 42. The leakage paths between the connector elements and the housing 22 are thereby increased to the required length. At the same time. a satisfactory electrical separation between the low-voltage part (actuator device 21) and the high-voltage part (switching vessels 4 with the connector parts) is obtained.

It will be seen from FIG. 1 that the switching vessels 4 are arranged side by side with relatively small spacing. Due to the accommodation of each switching vessel 4 in a separate insulator member 2 and the insulator cross section which is essenU-shaped and therefore presents three continuous insulating surfaces, the leakage paths are increased to such an extent that the spacings of the connector elements and can be matched to the permissible minimum spacings. In this fashion, the smallest possible design is achieved.

Although the above description is directed to the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is noted that other variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and, therefore, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a multi-pole vacuum switching apparatus including at least two vacuum switching vessels which are arranged side by side; an actuator device for operating the vacuum switching vessels; and, wherein the improvement comprises providing at least two insulator members corresponding to and enclosing respective ones of said switching vessels, said insulator members being completely independent of each other and disposed one adjacent the other so as to conjointly define an insulating space therebetween, said insulator members being of approximately U-shaped configuration and being fastened at the mid-wall thereof to the actuator device of the switching apparatus, said actuator device including a box-like housing, and an actuator disposed in said housing for actuating the vacuum switching vessels, each of said U-shaped insulator members being mounted to said housing at said mid-wall, each of said U-shaped insulator members having an extension formed thereon at said mid-wall thereof, said actuator having actuator levers made of insulating material for corresponding ones of the switching vessels, each of said levers being brought through said extension of the associated insulator member so as to protrude into the space between the side walls of the associated insulator member, the inner wall surface of each of said insulator members having ribs formed thereon, the upper and lower portions of each insulator member each defining an inwardly facing surface and an outwardly facing surface. each of said surfaces having ribs formed thereon, said ribbed upper and lower portions extending over said box-like housing, and conductor bars for each of the switching vessels for respectively conducting current to and current away from the switching vessel, said conductor bars being mounted respectively on the upper and lower portions of the associated insulator member.

2. The improvement of claim 1, said insulator members being mounted to said housing by fastening elements, the side walls of said U-shaped insulating members being drawn-in to define passage openings for rendering said fastening elements accessible from the front side of the apparatus.

3. The improvement of claim 1 comprising a pivot pin connected between the side walls of an insulator member for pivoting said lever on said pivot pin between said side walls.

4. The improvement of claim 3, said insulator members being mounted to said housing by fastening elements, the side walls of said U-shaped insulating members being drawn-in to define passage openings for rendering said fastening elements accessible from the front side of the apparatus.

Claims

1. In a multi-pole vacuum switching apparatus including at least two vacuum switching vessels which are arranged side by side; an actuator device for operating the vacuum switching vessels; and, wherein the improvement comprises providing at least two insulator members corresponding to and enclosing respective ones of said switching vessels, said insulator members being completely independent of each other and disposed one adjacent the other so as to conjointly define an insulating space therebetween, said insulator members being of approximately Ushaped configuration and being fastened at the mid-wall thereof to the actuator device of the switching apparatus, said actuator device including a box-like housing, and an actuator disposed in said housing for actuating the vacuum switching vessels, each of said U-shaped insulator members being mounted to said housing at said mid-wall, each of said U-shaped insulator members having an extension formed thereon at said mid-wall thereof, said actuator having actuator levers made of insulating material for corresponding ones of the switching vessels, each of said levers being brought through said extension of the associated insulator member so as to protrude into the space between the side walls of the associated insulator member, the inner wall surface of each of said insulator members having ribs formed thereon, the upper and lower portions of each insulator member each defining an inwardly facing surface and an outwardly facing surface, each of said surfaces having ribs formed thereon, said ribbed upper and lower portions extending over said box-like housing, and conductor bars for each of the switching vessels for respectively conducting current to and current away from the switching vessel, said conductor bars being mounted respectively on the upper and lower portions of the associated insulator member.