AU4277078A - Arc extinguisher - Google Patents

Description

FORM 4 REGULATION 11(1)

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

THE PATENTS ACT 1952-1969

CONVENTION APPLICATION FOR A PATENT

42770/78 /We, GOULD INC.

of 10 Gould Center, f iolling Meadows, Illinois, U.S.A.

hereby apply for the grant of a Patent for an invention entitled: "CIRCUIT BREAKER ARC EXTINGUISHER"

which is described in the accompanying complete specification.

This application is a Convention application and is based on the

application(s) numbered: 869,858

S for a patent or similar protection ma e in U.S.A.

on 16th January, 1978

X" MOur address for service is care of GRItFITH;;'HASSEL FAZER,

Patent Attorneys, of 323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney 2000, in the

S -ate of New South Wales, Commonwealth of Australia.

DATED this 20th cay of December, 1978

By theLr Patent Attorneys:

TO: Attorneys of Australia THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

COMMIONWBALT' T AUSTRALIA (SWIGR/CBO) Patents Act X"952-1962

iNST'rTJGTIONS DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF A CONVENTIONV OR NON-CONV ENTION APPLICATION FOR A PAT N OlbPATENT OP ADDITIN ,netNo. If In supp~ort of the application No. Irsurt full rizxme(s) of appulicznt(s) mnade by

Insert titL Of for a paten t/060W kWWWW 'for an invention entitled

Inser7t full naine(s) OF dtvc1irriftt:.) %ho of..Go

(Svlvdnotti).

*14srt zddress(es)

(to soleminly and sincerely declare as follows U)Delete entiely if apl~icallt IS XX0X X IENOXO body. (gl) I am authorised by the abovementioned applicant .for the pnetpVT~ ;C11.r.1tC

*)Dclue CitielY if 1. aPjdicant is Yrsuii or persons. izbdki~to make this declaration on its behalf. 2. The basic application(s) -as defined by Section 141 of the Act was/vim.,nade in the following, country or countries onl the followinlg date(s) by the following applicant(s) niamlely Delete cntixely If ~in (iih 5 ta~t5 C A mp~in (j)Jaray. 1 Con'entiurn Pnority NOT clainied (h0 ZS .1 I) nsvr, coun!,y in in jhiclh first basic pli2.etinl was (N..ed y t~j Insert date of first iy bai alp..til (IQ aNsertfull nottic(s) byl of basic nplicantWs a 3. 40kdete entirely it

of .ictx.al o. (,,,Cear lsT I. Moslausingq1 Invunrn(s) if pie ants) NOT vtpe e n.t.d.States..of.. eri.a Cst 1 drss(es) 4ir j'Ip1Ican1t(s! NOT inv rite.(s) is'~nitedj mae the appii aremsrflow n Inil

j(o) iet manner l wyhicc ajppicant t et-il tiv ,enturfs) S-ais regards entitlement under PartioX3I of the Act mCwhih.'t(s) NOT

fA Thve vsic r pplicheosaid n tca~ho iferetor the is p Declarto (p P'e1 tirely if NOT C 6ised. Ps regrds enpictiement tinide Pan XICofnrncpitrActfli~ the nrset the (P if. ihccite rran'ier in %%hichappli :atf erse(s) title k. -thph2oftiDcsrto NOT

Decl~red at 6ol Iing Meadows, IL thi h dlayf Dee1e9-7 (ri Sir.iatrc(s? of .13--No scs o (N slamn ))11110Oh

To ThefCommn ioir Pa~ents5 W ~ID(C r BY-~l~ Xlx23 Coninlo nwealdi Of Australia ac .Jc-Corp ate 54retary 1')x2331r.PO_ SY)NEY 2001] AUSTRALI1A

(11) AU-A1 42770/78

(12) PATENT SPECIFICATION ADQTDACT

(19) AU

(21) 42770/78 (22) 21.12.78 (23) 21.12.78 (24) 16.1.78 (31) 869858 (32) 16.1.78 (33) US (43) 26.7.79 (51)2 H01H 33/10' (54) ARC EXTINGUISHER (71) GOULD INC. (72) CLAUSING C.I. (74) GH (57) CLAIM

I. In a circuit breaker, an arc extinguisher;

a stationary contact and a movable contact engageable

therewith; said movable contact drawing on arc when dis-

engaged from said stationary contact while electrical

current is passing through said circuit breaker;

said arc extinguisher comprising a plurality of

spaced vertical plates extending transverse to the path of

the arc;

alternate plates being of metal material and

the intervening plates being of insulating material;

means spacing each metal plate from the adjacent

insulating plate and forming a plurality of vertical

passages for the arc gases to the top of the arc

-xtinguioher;

I-

(11) AU-A1 42770/78 2

each of the plates being notched at its lower

end to form a recess having substantially the shape of

an inverted V;

the aligned notches defining the arc path and

the area of entry of the arc into the arc extinguisher;

the vertical passages being open at the top.

27.1

Forni. COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952-69

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (ORIGINAL)

4 2 770/78 FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int. Class Application Number Lodged

Complete Specification Lodged Accepted Published Priority

Related Art

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT '~me of Applicant GO'ThD INC.

Gould Center, *jA.dress of Applicant: Rolling Meadows, Illinois, *00*0

U.S .A.

Actual Inventor: Charles I. Clausing.

Griffith, Hassel Frazer, Adress for Service: 323 Castereagh St., SYDNEY N.S.W. 2000 AUSTRALIA

implete Specification for the invention entitled: "CIRCUIT BREAKER ARC EXTINGUISHER"

The following statement is a full description of this invention, with the best method of per-forming it known to me/us:-

2

BACKGROUND (F THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to arc extin-

guishers fcr circuit breakers, and more particularly, to

an arc extinguisher designed to cooperate with a molded

case housing or support structure for a circuit breaker.

a The molded case housing support structure for

the circuit breaker with which the arc chute of the present

Sinvention is intended to cooperate is covered by a c< co-pending application Serial No. (C-1747),

filed contemporaneously herewith. The particular circuit

breaker in connection with which the present a:c chute is

to function and into which it is built is described in

detail in U.S. Patent No. 4,101,744. The circuit breaker

contact structure ir connection with which the arc ex-

tinguisher of the present invention is to operate is described and claimed in detail in co-pending application

assigned to the assignee of the present invention and

contemporaneously filed, Serial No. (C-1745).

For the purposes of the present description, some of

the description of the circuit breaker application

Serial No. (C-1745) are included herewith, and

also for the purposes of the present description, some

of the description of the molded case housing support

structure, Serial No. (C-1747) are also included

herewith. The inclusion of this descriptive material is

made only to the extent necessary for a complete understanding of the operation of the arc chute or arc extinguisher of the present invention.

The present invention contemplates that the arc

chute consists of a stack of metal plates, alternated with

S spacers of insulating material. The metal plates extend

transversely to the arc and are thus arranged so that

pt- the arc when it is blown up into the arc extinguisher

or arc chute is broken into a plurality of small arcs

Sin series, the roots of which are moved rapidly over

the metallic arc extinguishing plates and cooled. When

any one of the series arcs is extinguished, then the

entire arc is extinguished.

The metal plates, as above pointed out, are

alternated with insulation spacers. The edges and top of

the metal plates are offset to provide a chimney effect between the plates so that arc gases may readily rise

up between the plates. The metal plates and the spacers

are indented or slotted along the sides so that they

may be stacked and supported on and by insulating strips.

A metal retainer piece is engaged with the insulating strip

at the rear of the arc chute so that it functions as an

anchor at one end of the stack of plates.

At the front of the arc chute another metal

retainer is engaged with the insulating strips. Also at

the front of the arc chute a housing is provided which

bears against the stack of plates. The housing com-

pletes a girdle or band surrounding the a.:c extinguishing plates and integratir^ the same. Thus, when the end housing is appropriately secured to the side insulation strips and pulled up tight, the stack of plates is appropriately clamped. The housing or front end retainer for the plates also supports a front arc runner. The rear arc runner is

Smounted as part of the circuit breaker as hereinafter de- EL t" scribed. A liner plate is also supported on each side

4* between the metal retainers and the front housing to

protect the metal plates against the most severe arcing.

The arc chute is supported in the base molding

by appropriate projections thereon and by a single mounting bolt on the front shelf hereinafter described. Both the

metal plates and the insulation spacers are made from

strip material. The pieces are so shaped that they over-

lap in the strip and thus produce almost no scrap.

One of the principal objects of the present

invention is the arrangement of an arc extinguisher that

it may readily cooperate with a molded case support for

a circuit breaker and the circuit breaker itself. Another aspect of the present invention is the

arrangement of the arc chute parts so that no housing is

required around the arc chute since the breaker base

molding serves as part of this function and insulating

strips serve as structural members supporting the arc

chute and its element.

A further object of the present invention is

the provision of the chimney configuration in the arc chute stack offering optimum ventilation for higher inter- ruption capacity.

The arrangement and integration of the base

molding for the circuit breaker and the arc chute is such

that the relatively large housing required in prior

.o structures to contain all arc chute parts is no longer

C required. Also the baffles previously required are in-

herently built into the base molding for the circuit

breaker which also contains the arc chute, and which

serves to contain and dissipate the arc products.

A further object of the invention includes the

utilization in the stack of the arc chute of polyester

spacers between adjacent metal plates.

S' A further object of the present invention is

15 the integration of the arc chute and the base molding so

that the arc chute fits into the base molding and arc -products and gases are guided by circular cutouts in

the top of the housing and down around the side of the housing to aid in deionizing the arc products. o* 20 The foregoing and many other objects of the

present invention will become apparent in the following

description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a somewhat schematic side view of

a circuit breaker of the type shown in U.S. Patent No.

25 4,101,744 above referred to, and also the type as shown

in application Serial No. (C-1745), and application Serial No. (C-1747), the latter two being filed contemporaneously herewith.

Figure 2 is a side view partly in cross-section of the circuit breaker in connection with which the arc chute of the present invention is used showing part of the arc chute broken away. Figure 3 is a front view of ti.e circuit breaker of the present invention showing the molded housing in which the arc chute is to be placed and showing the arc t chute in position in one of the molded housings.

Figure 4 is a view in perspective showing the

circuit breaker in which the arc chute of the present

invention is placed, showing in a three-pole circuit

breaker two of the arc chutes in position and one of the

arc chutes removed.

Figure 5 is a further schematic cross-

sectional view corresponding to that of Figure 2, showing

S* various positions of the contact arm or bridge with

respect to the arc chute.

Figure 6 is a top view of the circuit breaker

structure of Figures 1 to 5, showing one of the arc

chutes in position. The top view is taken just below

the top of the molded case housing of Figures 3 and 4

so that the arc extinguisher elements may readily he

seen.

Figure 7 is a view in perspective of an in- 25 sulating spacer.

Figure 8 is a view in perspective of an arc

extinguishing plate.

In Figure 4, there is shown in schematic per-

spective the manner in which the arc extinguisher assembly

181 is mounted in the housing section 401 of the molded

housing structure 402 which contains and supports all of

the parts of the circuit breaker on the circuit breaker

support stand 410. The circuit breaker support stand

0 is more specifically described in application Serial

No. (C-1748), assigned to the assignee of the

present invention and filed contemporaneously herewith.

i0 Referring first to Figure 1, tne circuit breaker

is here shown schematically in the position in which the

contacts are closed and the closing springs are fully

discharged. The type of circuit breaker which ishere

referred to is fully described in U.S. Patent No. 15 4,101,744, in which the basic circuit breaker to which 0*

this present application pertains is described in detail.

The circuit breaker there described is a circuit breaker

in which a plurality of closing springs are utilized to

drive the circuit breaker from an open position to a

closed position. Accordingly, a motor is provided which

will first charge the springs and the springs are latched

in the charged position. When tne contacts of the circuit

breaker are opened and are later to be closed, the latch

which retains the closing springs in the charge position

25 is released so that the springs may operate directly to

close the contacts to the circuit breaker. After the con-

tacts are closed, the springs may be recharged.

The present invention is directed to the circuit breaker structure itself and, in particular, the contact structure.

The spring charging structure and racking structure are therefore not specifically here described 0 z and the contact operating structure is described in con t. nection with Figure 1 to the extent only that it is necessary to understand the structure of the circuit mi breaker. The shaft 25 is driven by springs 411 through

bell crank lever 412 counterclockwise in the direction

indicated by the arrow in Figure 1 in order to charge the

a closing springs. For this purpose, an appropriate con- nection from a motor or handle is made to the shaft 25 to

S perform the operation. On the closing of the circuit breaker, an appropriate latch as described in the said

prior applications is set to prop the basic support .members while nevertheless leaving the circuit breaker

trip-free but arranging the circuit breaker so that it

will not accidentally be opened by operation of closing

springs upon recharge. The closing springs can be dis- S charged only when the breaker is open.

The latch member 60 carried by shaft 25 is

driven onto the prop latch 61 in a position not shown in

*s*I Figure 1 (but shown in Figure 5b of the prior application).

"25 The prop latch 61 is pivotally mounted on the stationary

pivot 62, and is provided with the latch roller 63 which

is supported by the closing latch 64. The closing latch

64 is an extension of the bell crank lever 65 which is pivoted on the stationary pivot 66. This latch structure provides a support for retaining the springs in charged condition while the contacts are an and after the con- tacts are closed preparatory to another closing operation.

In Figure 1, the structure is shown in the

oo e- condition in which the contacts are closed and the springs

C have been discharged; in other words, the closing latch

t> 64 has been rotated so that it no longer supports the

latch roller 63 and thus, no longer supports the prop

latch 61 and thereby no longer supports the latch member

on the shaft 25 which latch member 60 has now rotated

counterclockwise to the position where the springs have

been discharged in order to close the circuit breaker.

Therefore, the position shown in Figure 1 is one in *8

15 which the circuit breaker is closed and the springs are

fully discharged.

As previously pointed out, the shaft 25 may be

rotated in a counterclockwise direction to charge the

springs, either by handle or motor, as described in the

prior applications. Upon the discharge of the closing springs, which is the condition shown in Figure 1, the

shaft 25 is rotated to the position shown in Figure 1,

and the first cam 26 operates through roller 45 to

rotate the third closing cam 46 in a counterclockwise

25 direction around its pivot 47. The roller 45 supported

on the arm 48 which is supported on the pivot 49 is a

part of the can 46. The end of the third closing cam 46 opposite to that which is engaged by the roller 45 is provided with a recess 50 which engages an additional roller related only to the spring closing operation, and described in the prior applications and need not be described here.

a The second closing cam 70 is stationarily

pivoted on the pivot 71 and is provided with the latch

roller 72 which bears against the tripping latch 73 ro- c tatably mounted on the pivot 74 and spring biased toward

the position shown in Figure 1. Thus, as the springs

are charged, shaft 25 is rotated counterclockwise until

member 60 is blocked by the prop latch 61. Member 60 is

*0 then in a position 180° opposite to the position shown

in Figure 1.

15 The prop latch 61 is in turn supported by the

engagement of the latch roller 63 with the closing latch

64. This, again, is the condition when the closing springs are fully charged. In the condition of the circuit breaker with the *6

20 contacts open and the springs charged, the recess 26a of cam 26 on shaft 25 engages the roller 45. The roller is driven up onto the outer perimeter of cam 26 thereby raising the lever 46 around its pivot 47 and following a

path defined by the cam 26 and the second closing cam 6

i 25 The engagement of latch 73 with latch roller 72 establishes

the position of cam member 70 and the track for roller

so that roller 45 is guided in a path which will lift the

T

11

lever 46 around the pin 47. Link 21 connected at 22 to

the lever 46 is connected at 23 to the bell crank arm

24 secured on the jack shaft 20. The opposite end of bell

crank arm 24 is connected by pin 30 to the extension 31

of the contact arm 32. It will here be noted that the

contact arm 32 is maintained in the closed position by

the latch 73 engaging the roller 72 and positioning the

[t roller 45 and arm 48 so that the lever 46 is maintained in

the raised position to drive the bell crank lever 24

counterclockwise in the direction to maintain the contact

arm 32 closed.

The contact elements forming the contacts 101,

102, 103 are arranged so that the main stationary contact

elements 101 and the main disconnect contact elements

102, 103 are identical in construction thereby eliminating

the total number of different parts which must be fabri-

cated in order to construct the circuit breaker.

In the instance illustrated in Figures 1 and 2,

the stationary contacts 101 are shown with three pairs of

jaws while the disconnect contacts 102, 103 are shown

with five pairs of jaws. The number of pairs of jaws

utilized for the contact elements depends on the current

rating and the desired current carrying capacity. Thus,

in igure 6 which is a plan view of the circuit breaker,

it will be shown that in the case of, for instance, an 800

ampere circuit breaker, three pairs of jaws may be used

for the upper and lower disconnect contact. Should it be desired to use a 1600 ampere circuit breaker, then the same general structure may be utilized with five pairs of contact jaws for the upper and lower disconnect contact.

Should a larger capacity breaker be required,

such as 2000 ampere breaker, then two sets of upper and

Slower disconnect contacts having five pairs of jaws each

may be used for the purpose.

t- It should be noted in Figures 3 and 6 while

circuit breakers of different capacities are shown

mounted in the three-pole structure, in any particular

use, the circuit breaker structures for each of the poles

should be the same in capacity. The showing of circuit

breakers of three different capacities mounted in the

three different sections of a single three-pole circuit

15 breaker in Figures 3, 6 and 7 is for the purpose of

demonstrating that the same housing and the same structure

may be utilized for circuit breakers of varying capacity,

both in their operating capacity such as the 800 ampere,

1600 ampere, 2000 ampere breaker, as well as in current

20 interrupting capacity,

Current enters through the upper back con-

nection stud 110 (Figure 6) in the cubicle or stationary

part of the circuit breaker housing. In the case of a

higher capacity circuit breaker, where a plurality of

25 sets of disconnect contacts can be required, the back

connection structure or terminal may be modified as shown

at ll0a, ll0b to provide a double support for the contacts.

Current then passes (Figures 1 and 2) through the discon-

nect contacts 102 to the stationary contact support

structure 112, then through the stationary contacts 101

and the stationary arcing contact 114 to the movable

contact arm or contact bridge 32 which is pivotally

o mounted at the pivot 33 on the lower connector 116. The I-

S pivot 33 establishes a current path to the lower con-

nector and to lower disconnect contacts 103 and the

stationary terminal or stud 110 in the housing.

The disconnect contacts 102, 103 and the

stationary contacts 101 are so arranged that they are

identical in construction so that each member of the

pairs of jaws forming the plurality of contact elements

is identical. This, therefore, simplifies the fabrication

15 of the circuit breaker elements. Each of the individual

elements 120 forming the various contacts 101, 102, 103

as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 is composed of a

substantially elongated member having from the side view

(visible more clearly in Figures 1 and 2) a substantially

20 elongated rectangular appearance.

The arc extinguisher (Figure 2) comprises a

stack of metal plates 420 spaced from each other by a

plurality of insulation spacers 421. The spacers 421

e xtend across the top of the arc chute as bhown in

S* 25 Figure 6, and extend down adjacent the metal pla":

In order "o support the metal plates and spacers

appropriately in stacked relation with respect to each

other, an insulating strip 430, Figure 3, is provided on each side of the arc chute, and the metal plates and spacers are slotted so that they are stacked on the in- sulating strips 430. Such arrangement can readily be seen in the right-hand pole structure of Figure 3 wherein slots 431 in the metal arc chute plate are show'n

C received on the insulating strips 430. A metal retaining

0 piece 432 on each side (Figure 3) engages the rear of the

t insulating strip 430 on each side so that it functions as

an anchor a't the rear end of the stack. (See, also,

Figures 3 and Also, at the front end of the arc

chute (see Figure 2) is a housing 435 which bears

against the stack. When the screw 436 is tightened it

pulls the insulation strips 430 which are engaged by

cross member 481 toward housing 435 and thus clamps the

15 stack to the housing. The housing also supports a front

arc runner 225. The rear arc runner 231a is mounted as S e

part of the circuit breaker. Liner plates 440 are also

supported between the metal retainers 432 and the front

housing 435 to protect the metal plates against the most

20 severe arcing. The arc chute is supported as seen in Figure 6

in the molding 210 by projections 441 from the sides of

the extensions or separator walls 445 of the base molding

210, and by a single mounting bolt 446 extending through

25 the front shelf a47 of the circuit breaker structure.

The plates 420 are offset with respect to each other as

seen particularly in Figure 2 so that they provide, with

the re-entrant bends 450 which space them from the insulator plates 421, a chimney configuration in the chute stack offering optimum ventilation for higher interrupting capability. The utilization of the insulating plates 421 provides, in addition to the breaking up of the arc into

Sa plurality of small arcs by the utilization of the metal r- o plates, the introduction of insulating material which serves to lengthen each of the small series arcs as it is

driven up into the arc extinguisher thereby providing

]0 not merely a cooling of the roots of the individual arcs

in series, but also an increase in the length of each.

individual small arc path, thereby providing means for rapidly extinguishing the arc.

This is seen in the va:rious dotted line positions O tco

s15 shown in Figure 5. As the main contact bridge 32 moves

toward open position, the arcing contact 161 on the con-

tact bridging arm 32 begins to move with respect to the eece

stationary arcing contact 160. However, the moving

contact arm bridge 32 separates from the main stationary

20 contact 101 first and an arc is drawn between the arcing

contacts 160, 161. The magnetic field generated by the

arc as it is drawn, which constitutes a half turn of a coil, drives the arc up into the arc chute, driving the roots of the arc up on the rear arcing runner 230 and Ccc... 25 the front arcing runner 225.

The slot 230a, in effect, forms a half-turn

coil and thus provides an additional magnetic field to

move the roots of the arc further up on the arc runner 230.

As the arcing contact reaches the full open position, the arc is transferred from the moving arcing contact 161 to the front arc runner 225 and the arc is then blown up into the arc chute where it is extinguished. As seen particularly in Figure 4, the arc gases driven up by the plurality of chimney arrangements created

Sby the offsets or bosses on the arc plate reaches the top of the arc chute 181 and strikes the top of the molded CM II housing 402 in the chamber 401. At this point the arc gases are redirected by the curves 460, 461 on each side of the curved tops of the arc extinguishing plates to go down the sides of the arc chute.

oo Thus, the housing 210 consisting of sections

460 and 461 in the molded casing 402 actually constitutes 15 part of the arc chute structure in providing an additional

baffle structure instead of venting the gases directly to the outside. The arc products are thereby dissipated

0 primarily within the housing 210 and then vented slowly

to the outside owing to the fact that the arc chute 181

20 is not a tight fit within the chamber 401.

O The utilization of the offsets as previously

described on the metal plates makes it possible to

utilize the metal plates and insulating plates together while providing an appropriate chimney effect for the

25 escape of arc gases. The utilization of a plurality of

metal plates enables the metal plates as the arc is blown

up into the arc chute past the protective strips 440, to

break the arc into a series of arcs having the roots on the meta plates. The insulating plates ensure that the series of arcs will be lengthened as they are blown further up into the: arc chute.

As will be seen particularly from Figure 3 and the additional Figures 7 and 8 showing the individual

arc extinguishing plates, each of the metal plates 420

C is provided with a notch 490 as shown which permits the

S arc to enter end then be driven up into the plate. s the foregoing, the present invention has been In

described in connection with preferred illustrative

embodiments thereof. The scope of the invention is

intended to be defined by the appended claims.

0

O 0

Claims (4)

IN THE C--LA-IMS: Ie- claims defining the invention are as folows-

1. In a circuit breaker, an arc extinguisher;

a stationary contact and a movable contact engageable

therewith; said movable contact drawing on arc when dis-

engaged from said stationary contact while electrical

current is passing through said circuit breaker;

o said arc extinguisher comprising a plurality o;f

spaced vertical plates extending transverse to the path of

t' the arc:

alternate plates being of metal material and

the intervening plates being of insulating material;

means spacing each metal plate from the adje .ent

insulating plate and forming a plurality of vertical

passages for the arc gases to the top of the arc

extinguisher;

each of the plates being notched at its lower

end to form a recess having substantially the shape of

an inverted V;

the aligned notches defining the arc path and

the area of entry of the arc into the arc extinguisher;

the vertical passages being open at the top.

2. The circuit breaker of Claim 1;

a housing for the circuit breaker;

the housing having a recess for supporting said

arc extinguisher;

the top of said recess being curved to guide the

arc gases emerging from the top of the arc chute toward the

sides of said recess.

3. The circuit breaker of Claim 2 in which the

circuit breaker is a multipole circuit breaker having a

pair of stationary and movable contacts for each pole;

an arc extinguisher for each pole and a housing

recess for each arc extinguisher;

G the top of each recess being curved to guide

I the arc gases emerging from the top of the arc chute

toward the sides of said recess. I 4. The circuit breaker of Claim 3 wherein, each

arc extinguisher is spaced from the sides of said recess

to permit the arc gases defected by the curve at the top

of each recess to pass down the outside of each arc

5 extinguisher.

5. The circuit breaker of Claim 4 wherein,

S. the circuit breaker and the housing thereof are adapted

to cooperate in supporting contacts of different size

and different current carrying capacity and wherein said

S recesses are adapted to receive arc extinguishers of

different arc extinguishing capacity.

o* 6. The circuit breaker of Claim 1 wherein, each CC

of the metal plates has peripheral extensions directed

toward the adjacent insulating plate and spacing the

plates.

7. The circuit breaker of Claim 6 wherein, each

metal plate has an additional vertical central boss di-

rected toward the adjacent insulating plate.

1 I

20

8. The circuit breaker of Claim 1 wherein,

each notch in each insulating plate is. deeper than the

notch in each metal plate; the arc engaging the metal

plates first. 0o p--

S9. The circuit breaker of Claim 4 wherel', a

t. protection insulating strip is provided along portions

of the notches in the metal plates on each side.

The circuit breaker of claim 6 wherein,

the metal and insulating plates have aligned slots on each

rside of the notch and an insulating support strip on each

side passing through the aligned slots to support the

5 plates.

11. The circuit breaker of Claim 4, wherein,

the circuit breaker and housing cooperate to support arc

runners electrically connected to each stationary contact;

and

each arc extinguisher supports an arc runner

electrically connected to the movable contact and over-

lying the movable contact when the contacts are disengaged. B

12. The circuit breaker of Claim 11 in which a

notched plate is connected between each of the stationary

contacL structures and the first mentioned arc runners,

said notched plate forming a half turn magnetic coil

generating a magnetic field when the arcs are drawn to

drive the respective arcs upwardly into the arc extinguisher.

A

1978 Dated this 20th day of December,

GOULD INC. By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH, HASSEL FRAZER. -O

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