US3919511A

US3919511A - High-voltage apparatus such as a circuit breaker or the like equipped with means for preventing impairment of the electric field within the apparatus enclosure

Info

Publication number: US3919511A
Application number: US364274A
Authority: US
Inventors: Dieter Noack
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens AG
Priority date: 1972-05-31
Filing date: 1973-05-29
Publication date: 1975-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-11
Also published as: DE2227330A1; JPS5511258B2; JPS4956182A; DE2227330B2

Abstract

A high-voltage apparatus such as a compressed-gas circuit breaker or the like has an enclosure wherein an electric field is present when the breaker is in service. A reinforced housing arrangement accommodates the drive mechanism for actuating the contacts of the breaker and is arranged within the enclosure. The housing arrangement includes a housing member disposed in surrounding relation to the drive mechanism and a plurality of reinforcement ribs are provided on at least the outer surface of the housing member. At least two shell-like members made of electrically conductive material conjointly form a hollow cylinder and are arranged in surrounding relation to the outer surface of the housing member whereby impairment of the electric field within the enclosure is precluded. The shell-like members are secured to the housing member in a self-holding manner.

Description

United States Patent Noack HIGH-VOLTAGE APPARATUS SUCH AS A CIRCUIT BREAKER OR THE LIKE EQUIPPED WITH MEANS FOR PREVENTING IMPAIRMENT OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD WITHIN THE APPARATUS ENCLOSURE Dieter Noack, Berlin, Germany Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich, German y Filed: May 29, 1973 Appl. No.: 364,274

Inventor:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data May 31, 1972 Germany 2227330 US. Cl. 200/148 R; 200/14 D 1m. 01. H0 111 33/82 Field of Search 200/148 1), 148 R References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1948 Amer 200/148 D Friedrich .1 200/148 D 3.728504 4/1973 Beier 200/148 D Primary Examiner-Robert S. Macon Attorney, Agent. or Firml(enyon & Kenyon Reilly Carr & Chapin [5 7 ABSTRACT A high-voltage apparatus such as a compressed-gas circuit breaker or the like has an enclosure wherein an electric field is present when the breaker is in service. A reinforced housing arrangement accommodates the drive mechanism for actuating the contacts of the breaker and is arranged within the enclosure. The housing arrangement includes a housing member dis-' posed in surrounding relation to the drive mechanism and a plurality of reinforcement ribs are provided on at least the outer surface of the housing member. At least two shell-like members made of electrically conductive material conjointly form a hollow cylinder and are arranged in surrounding relation to the outer surface of the housing member whereby impairment of the electric field within the enclosure is precluded. The shell-like members are secured to the housing member in a self-holding manner.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 11,1975 Sheet1of2 3,919,511

U.S. Patent Nov.1l, 1975 Sheet20f2 3,919,511

ao rqao HIGH-VOLTAGE APPARATUS SUCH AS A CIRCUIT BREAKER OR THE LIKE EQUIPPED WITH MEANS FOR PREVENTING IMPAIRMENT OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD WITHIN THE APPARATUS ENCLOSURE I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a high-voltage circuit breakers and particularly in compressed-gas circuit breakers with several. seriesconnected switchingdevices having switching locations arranged on a common axis, a common drivefor the.

switching devices is often provided which opens and closes the contacts 'of the switching devices simultaneously. A high-voltage circuit breaker with two seriesconnected switching devices is described, for instance, in Siemens Zeitschrift, No. 8, August l968, on pages 579 to 583. The known circuit breaker, in which sulfur hexafluoride is used as the quenching and insulating. medium, has a drive member which is movably guided in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the switching contacts and is coupled with the drive-rods for the switching contacts via direction changing linkages, for

instance, by means of angle levers.

If the drive for the switching contacts is also configured so that it initiates the flow of quenching medium for the switching devices, which is the case particularly with blast piston systems,it is necessary to configure the mechanism housing for the contact drive so that it can resist torsion; this is necessary because of the 1 forces and torques that are required and must be transmitted. For this purpose, the mechanism housing is provided with stiffening ribs on at least the outside of the cylinder surface. When the apparatus is in service, the mechanism housing is at the high-voltage potential.

Such a configuration of the mechanism housing can lead to distortion of the electric field between the outer wall of the housing, particularly the stiffening ribs, and the grounded breaker enclosure of the compressed-gas circuit breaker.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a housing arrangement for a high-voltage apparatus such as a circuit breaker or the like whereinimpairment of the electric field within the apparatus.enclosure is precluded. ltis another object of the invention to provide a housing-arrangement which achieves the desireable effect of nonimpairment of the electric field while at the same time allowing a configuration of the housing thatincludes the structural reinforcement needed to make the housing resistant to torsional loading as, for. example, in a housing accommodating the .drive mechanism of a circuit breaker. 1 r

The invention relates to a high-voltage apparatus, and particularly to a compressed-gas'circuit breaker with a mechanism housing for accommodating the 9 drive of the contacts. The housing is arranged within the breaker enclosure and is at high-voltage potential when the breaker is in service. The mechanism'housing is provided with stiffening ribs at. least on the outside surface. According to the invention, two half-shells of electrically conductive material are provided which enclose the mechanism housing on the outside surface and together form a hollow'cylinder. The two half disposed in surrounding relation to the drive mechanism and a plurality of reinforcement ribs are provided on at least the outer surface of this housing member. At least two shell-like members made of electrically conduc'tive material, conjointly form a hollow cylinder and are arranged in surrounding relation to the outer surface of the housing member whereby impairment of the electric field within the enclosure is precluded. Fastening means are provided for self-holding the shell-like members to the housing member.

According to another feature of the invention, the shell-like members can be two in number and can be respective half-shells.

The housing member can have respective end-face portions extending'radially in covering relation to the reinforcement ribs and the fastening means can comprise means for self-holding the half-shells fixedly between the end-face portions.

According to a subsidiary feature of theinvention, the fastening means can include slot means formed in each of the end-face portions at the periphery thereof, and inwardly directed projection means formed on the longitudinal ends of each of the half-shells for engaging corresponding ones of the slot means.

If the compressed-gas circuit breaker is subjected to I I vibration during operation which could affectthe electrical contact of the half-shells with the drive mechanism housing, it is advantageous to provide threaded elements which connect the half-shells with the mechanism housing.

According to another subsidiary feature, the fastening means comprises ancillary fastening means in the form of a plurality of threaded members for joining the half-shells to the end-face portions of the housing member disposed in surrounding relation to the drive mechanism. I

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as a high-voltage apparatus such as a circuit breaker or the like equipped with means for preventing impairment of the electric .field within'the apparatus enclosure, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited 'to' the details shown, since various modifications may be made therein within the scope and the range of the claims. The invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages will be best understood shells snap into parts of the mechanism housing in a self-holding manner. In this manner the shielding of the mechanism housing required for the equalization of the from the following description and in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF'TI-IE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows, schematically and partially in section, a circuit breaker 'equipped with a drive housing arrangement for preventing distortion of the electric field according to the invention. The breaker is of the compressed-gas type and is provided with a blast-piston arrangement. all:

3 FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the drive housing of the circuit breaker of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view taken along the linesllI- -Ill of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION havinga cylindrical housing part 2 with three

tubular stubs

3, 4 and 5. The end faces of the cylindrical part 2 are closed by lids 6 and 7. In the interior 10of the cylindrical part 2, two identical switching devices 11 and 12 electrically connected in series are accommodated and are disposed on a common axis. Associated with each of the switching devices are two stationary electrodes Band which are'hollow and serve as nozzles for the flow of quenching medium.

In the closed position, the

electrodes

13, 15 are connected by a hollow, movable contact element 14. Then,

the circuit leads from the electrode 13 which can be stationary contact through the contact element 14 to the electrode 15 which directs the current in the manner of a sliding contact to a stationary metal housing 16. The housing 16 is the drive mechanism housing and is in the center between the two switching devices 11 and 12. n

The mechanism housing 16 is made of metal and is engaged by ahollow support insulator 20 made, for example, of cast resin. The support insulator 20 is rigidly connected with the mechanism housing 16 at its highvoltage end. The grounded end of the insulator 20 which protrudes into the stub 4 is rigidly connected at a cover 21. The cover 21 is part of the housing of a breaker drive 22, for example, a double-acting hydraulic cylinfder. I

The breaker actuator 22 provides a reciprocating motion of the drive member 24 in the direction of the axis of the insulator 20. The drive member 24 consists of insulating material and is guided in the mechanism housing 16 at the location designated by reference numeral 25. Two oppositely movable

direction changing levers

26, 27 are set in motion by means of two connecting

rods

28, 29 by the movement of drive member 24. The

rods

28, 29 are coupled with the movable contacts 14 of the switching devices 11 and "12 by means control rods 30.

The control rods 30 are further connected with a blast cylinder 31 which is pulled over a stationary blast piston-32 during the breaker opening operation, so that the sulfur hexafluoride compressed in this process extinguishes the arc, the compressed gas flowing through the

hollow contacts

13 and 14. i

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the drive 'housing 16 contains a stationary pivot bearing 37 for the

levers

26, 27.

The part 16a of housing 16 carries and guides the

levers

26, 27. Stiffening ribs 40, the fastening elements for connecting the housing part 16a with the housing 16 and with the support insulator 20 and also projecting 1 by, two half-

shells

41, 42 which form a hollow cylinder and enclose the mechanism housing 160 at the outside surface thereof. The half-shells.have'inwardly directed projecting peripheral flanges 43 which snap into parts of the mechanismhousing 16a in a self-holding manner. The half-

shells

41 and 42 consist of electrically conductive material and are connected with

metal mechanism housing

16, 16a in an electrically conducting manner.

In the illustrated embodiment, the mechanism housing includes two end-face portions 44 which radially cover the stiffening ribs 40. The half-

shells

41, 42 are fixed between these two end-face portions 44. For this purpose, the endface portions 44 have slots 45 at the periphery thereof in which the inwardly directed projecting peripheral flanges 43 of the half-shells 41, 42 I engage. To ensure a permanent, electrically conducting connection between the

mechanism

16, 16a and the half-

shells

41, 42, an additional connection can be made by means of threaded elements in the form of screws 46 which are advantageously arranged in a The invention makes it possible to provide a configuration for the mechanism housing which is resistant to tension and which does not impair the electric field in the interior of the grounded breaker housing.

Although the invention is described in the context of a compressed-gascircuit breaker, it can also be advantageously applied for shielding other components in,

metal-encapsulated, compressed-gas insulated high;- voltage apparatus and installations. Typical of such." components are bus bars, disconnect switches and the like.

What is claimed is: .v

1. In a high-voltage apparatus such as a compressedgas circuit breaker or the like having an enclosure wherein an electric field is present when the breaker is in service, a reinforced, housing arrangement for accommodating the drive mechanismfor actuating the contacts of the breaker, the housing arrangement being at high-voltage potential when the breaker is in service and being arranged within the enclosure, the housing arrangement comprising a housing member disposed in surrounding relation to the drive mechanism,a plurality of reinforcement ribs provided on at least the outer surface of saidhousing member, at least two shell-like members made of electrically conductive material, said I shell-like members conjointly forming a hollow cylinmember having respective end-face portions extending member having respective end-face portions'extending radially in covering relation to said reinforcement ribs, said fastening means comprising means for self-holding said half-shells fixedly between said end-face portions.

4. The housing arrangement of claim 2, said housing radially in covering relation to said reinforcement ribs, 5. The housing arrangement of claim 4, said fastening said fastening means comprising slot means formed in each of said end-face portions at the periphery thereof, and inwardly directed projection means formed on the longitudinal ends of each of said half-shells for engag- Shells to Said endface Portionsing corresponding ones of said slot means.

means comprising ancillary fastening means in the form ofa plurality of threaded members for joining said half-

Claims

1. In a high-voltage apparatus such as a compressed-gas circuit breaker or the like having an enclosure wherein an electric field is present when the breaker is in service, a reinforced housing arrangement for accommodating the drive mechanism for actuating the contacts of the breaker, the housing arrangement being at high-voltage potential when the breaker is in service and being arranged within the enclosure, the housing arrangement comprising a housing member disposed in surrounding relation to the drive mechanism, a plurality of reinforcement ribs provided on at least the outer surface of said housing member, at least two shell-like members made of electrically conductive material, said shell-like members conjointly forming a hollow cylinder and being arranged in surrounding relation to said outer surface of said housing member whereby impairment of the electric field within the enclosure is precluded, and fastening means for self-holding and shell-like members to said housing member.

2. The housing arrangement of claim 1, said shell-like members being two in number and being respective half-shells.

3. The housing arrangement of claim 2, said housing member having respective end-face portions extending radially in covering relation to said reinforcement ribs, said fastening means comprising means for self-holding said half-shells fixedly between said end-face portions.

4. The housing arrangement of claim 2, said housing member having respective end-face portions extending radially in covering relation to said reinforcement ribs, said fastening means comprising slot means formed in each of said end-face portions at the periphery thereof, and inwardly directed projection means formed on the longitudinal ends of each of said half-shells for engaging corresponding ones of said slot means.

5. The housing arrangement of claim 4, said fastening means comprising ancillary fastening means in the form of a plurality of threaded members for joining said half-shells to said end-face portions.