GB2607503A

GB2607503A - Electrical interrupter with actuator

Info

Publication number: GB2607503A
Application number: GB2211718.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Pande Manish; Mujawar Asad
Original assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Current assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-10
Filing date: 2021-02-10
Publication date: 2022-12-07
Also published as: GB2591826A; WO2021160642A1; GB202211718D0; GB202004270D0

Abstract

An electrical interrupter and a method of operating the electrical interrupter are provided. The electrical interrupter comprises: a housing; a breakable conductor and a pyrotechnic charge. The housing has a first, sealed, cavity and a second cavity. The breakable conductor has connection contacts at either end. The connection contacts of the conductor extend through the housing. The conductor has a curved section extending between the connection contacts and having an inside curved face and an outside curved face. The inside curved face at least in part defines the first cavity. The curved section of the conductor comprises: first and second supported sections and a bridge section arranged to separate the first and second cavities. Each of the first and second supported sections (of the curved section) are connected to a respective one of the connection contacts and supported along the outside curved face (i.e. along the outside curved face of the curved section) by the housing. The first and second supported sections are connected via the bridge section. The pyrotechnic charge is arranged, upon ignition, to release gas into the first cavity to break the conductor at the bridge section, and thereby to break a current conduction path through (or along) the conductor.

Claims

1. An electrical interrupter comprising: a housing (102) having a first, sealed, cavity (104) and a second cavity (106); a breakable conductor (108) comprising: connection contacts (110a, 110b) at either end, the connection contacts of the conductor extending through the housing; and a curved section (130) arranged between the connection contacts and having an inside curved face (134) and an outside curved face (136), the inside curved face at least in part defining the first cavity, wherein the curved section of the conductor comprises: first and second supported sections (112a, 122b), wherein each supported section is coupled to a respective one of the connection contacts and is supported along the outside curved face by the housing, and a bridge section (114) arranged to separate the first and second cavities, the first and second supported sections connected via the bridge section; and a pyrotechnic charge (116) arranged, upon ignition, to release gas into the first cavity to break the conductor at the bridge section to break a current conduction path through the conductor.

2. The electrical interrupter of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the curved section, defined between the inside curved face and the outside curved face, is variable .

3. The electrical interrupter of claim 2, wherein a thickness of the bridge section is less than a thickness of the first and second supported sections.

4. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, wherein the bridge section comprises at least one notched portion (118), wherein the bridge section is configured to break at the at least one notched portion.

5. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, wherein the pyrotechnic charge is configured to separate a portion of the bridge section from the first and second supported sections and displace the portion of the bridge section into the second cavity to break the current conduction path.

6. The electrical interrupter of claim 5, wherein the bridge section comprises a notched portion proximate either end of the bridge section, wherein the portion of the bridge section is bounded by the notched portions

7. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, wherein at least a portion of the inside face of the curved section is an inscribe sector of a circle, such as a semi circle, optionally, wherein at least the inside face of the bridge section is an inscribe sector of a circle, such as a semi-circle

8. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, further comprising a biasing member (120) coupled to the bridge section and arranged to urge the portion of the bridge section towards the second cavity upon the separation of the portion of the bridge section from the first and second supported sections .

9. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, further comprising arc extinguishing media arranged within the second cavity.

10. The electrical interrupter of claim 9, wherein the arc extinguishing media is arranged within a capsule (122) located inside the second cavity, the capsule configured to release the arc extinguishing media upon rupture.

11. The electrical interrupter of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the outside curved face of the bridge section comprises at least one puncturing means arranged to puncture the capsule upon contact with the capsule to release the arc extinguishing media.

12. The electrical interrupter of any one of claims 9-11, wherein the arc extinguishing media is silica gel.

13. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, wherein the portion of the housing surrounding the second cavity comprises one or more vents (124a, 124b, 126, 128) extending at least partially through the housing for releasing gas from the second cavity.

14. The electrical interrupter of claim 13, wherein the one or more vents (124a, 124b) extend only partially through the housing and the portion of the housing at the end of each vent is arranged to break upon release of gas from the pyrotechnic charge into the second cavity.

15. The electrical interrupter of claim 13, wherein the vents (126, 128) comprise one or more through holes, optionally, wherein the one or more through holes contain at least one of a mesh and a baffle.

16. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, wherein the curved section extends at least 120 degrees around the first cavity, optionally at least 180 degrees, optionally at least 270 degrees, optionally wherein the curved section extends 350 degrees or less around the first cavity.

17. The electrical interrupter of any preceding claim, wherein the housing has a third cavity (106b), and wherein the breakable conductor comprises a second bridge section (114b) arranged to separate the first and third cavities, the first and second supported sections connected via the second bridge section, and wherein the pyrotechnic charge is arranged to also break the second bridge section to break the current conduction path through the conductor.

18. The electrical interrupter of claim 17, wherein the curved section extends around the first cavity such that the inside face of the curved section defines the first cavity, and wherein the third cavity is arranged on an opposite side of the first cavity from the second cavity.

19. The electrical interrupter of claim 18, wherein the first cavity is substantially circular.

20. The electrical interrupter of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein the first cavity has a semi-circular face opposite to the inside curve of the bridge section, the semi circular face formed by the housing.

21. A method for operating an electrical interrupter (too), comprising: igniting a pyrotechnic charge (116) to release gas into a first sealed cavity (104) of a housing (102); exerting, in dependence on the released gas, pressure on a bridge section (114) of a curved section (130) of a breakable conductor (108), wherein the curved section has an inside curved face (134) and an outside curved face (136), the inside curved face at least in part defining the first cavity, and wherein first and second supported sections (112a, 112b) of the curved section are supported along the outside curved face by the housing and connected via the bridge section, the bridge section arranged to separate the first cavity from a second cavity (106) of the housing; and breaking, by the exerted pressure, the conductor at the bridge section to open a current conduction path through the conductor.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: separating, by the exerted pressure, a portion (118) of the bridge section from the first and second supported sections; and displacing, by at least the exerted pressure, the portion of the bridge section into the second cavity.

23. A electrical interrupter comprising: an actuator (402); a housing (404) having a cavity (406); a breakable conductor (408) comprising: a first section (410a) and a second section (410b), the first and second sections comprising connection contacts (412a, 412b), wherein at least a portion of each of the first and second sections is supported by the housing, and a bridge section (414) arranged between the first and second sections to define a current conduction path, wherein the bridge section is configured to define at least a portion of the cavity; and a biasing member (416) coupled to the bridge section, wherein the actuator is configured, upon actuation, to exert a force on the bridge section in a first direction to separate a portion of the bridge section from the first and second conductor sections so as to open the current conduction path, and wherein, upon the separation of the portion of the bridge section from the first and second sections, the biasing member is arranged to urge the portion of the bridge section in the first direction into the cavity

24. The electrical interrupter of claim 23, wherein a thickness of the bridge section is less than a thickness of the first and second sections.

25. The electrical interrupter of claim 23 or claim 24, wherein the housing is configured to support the first and second sections in a second direction opposite the first direction.