US1031795A - Lightning-arrester. - Google Patents

Description

R. P. JACKSON.

LIGHTNING ARRESTER. APPLICATION IILEI) OUT, 8, 1910.-

1,031,795 PatentedJulyQlQlQ 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IN ENTUH 1 A TTORNEY.

R. P. JACKSON.

LIGHTNING ARRESTER.

APPLICATION FILED ooT. s, 1910.

WITNESSES 4 WWW ATTORNEY UNITED STATES arnum orrron.

RAY r. JACKSON, or swrssvAnn; PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, T0 WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

LIG TNIN-G-ARRESTEB.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application-filed October 8, 1910. Serial No. 586,078.

atented July 9, 1912.

My invention relates to lightning arrest crs and it has special reference to such de vices of this character as are adapted for relatively low-voltage service.

The object of my invention is to-provide a simple and durable device of the character above indicated that shall embody spe-' cially constructed arcing 'members and a magnetic blow-out for extinguishing the electric arcs which maybe formed between the arcing members upon the occurrence of a staticdischarge.

For relatively low-voltage service, it is desirable, in order to secure adequate protection by means of a lightning arrester, to set the opposed arcing members very closely together, but, if the members are rigidly fixed ataslight distance apart, a magnetic blow-out does not operate readily in disrupting the are. It has, accordingly, been my aim to provide opposed arcing members which will be automatically separatedwhen an electricarc is formed between them.

. According to my present invention, I provide a lightning arrester having opposed arcing members, each of which consists of a horn-shaped end member and a yielding shank, to which the end memberis secured, the two shanks being connected electrically to terminal members to which they are riveted, or otherwise secured, and the two horns being/adjacent to each other and diverging outwardly. The two horns are constructed of copper, or other conducting material, and are located in a magnetic field produced by a suitable blow-out coil.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a diagrammatic View of a lightning arrester embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 3 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of my invention, with the frame open.

Referring to the drawings, the structure here shown comprises a frame or boxcomposed of two hinge-connected parts 1 and 2. a pair of terminal members 3 and 4 secured to an insulating plate or base 5 of the part 1, opposed arcing members'6 and 7 yield-, ingly connected to the terminal members 3 and 4 by means of spring shanks 8 and 9, a blow-out magnet coil 10 and a resistor 11. The blow-out magnet coil 10 and the resistor 11 are both secured to the part 2, the coil 10 being so located, with reference to the-members 6 and. 7, that a magnetic field is produced at the point of minimum area gap between the members when electric current traverses the said coil. The part 1 of the box is provided with an arc chute 12 which is similarv in construction to t e are chutes ordinarily found in magnetic blowout switches, car circuit breakers and the like. The members 6 and 7 are separated by a rib or projection 13f'on the base 5, having an enlargement 14 at its -tree end. The arcing member 7 is provlded with a set screw 15 which projects through the member and engages the enlargement 14 of the projection 13 to prevent the arcing members from vibrating into"engagement with each other, the member 6 being l'imited,'either in the same manneror directly by the enlargement 14. I I

The circuit connections for the device are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to which special reference. may now be had. One terminal 16 of the resistor 11 and one terminal of the blow-out-coil 10 are connected together and to a circuit conductor 17, the opposite'terminals of-the resistor'and the coil being joined to the arcing member 6, and the other arcing member 7 being connected to circuit conductor 18. The arrangement of parts is such that, under normal conditions. no current traverses the blow-out coil or any part of the arrester, but, when a discharge takes place between the members 6 and 7, a circuit is completed through the blow-out coil and the resistor, in multiple, and across the air gap between the members 6 and 7, The are which is produced between the members is choked by the magnetic field produced by the coil 10, and the torque exerted by the magnetic flux upon the members 6 and 7, by reason of the current flowing through them, forces "the arcing members slightly apart and assists in'disrupt-ing the arc. By dividing the box into two hinge-connected parts and mounting certain members on each part, they are all readily 1 within the spirit and scope of my invention, and I desire that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim. as myinvention: a

1. A lightning arrester comprising a pair of opposed yielding discharge members and means for producing a magnetic field between said members to force them apart and extinguish such arcs as may be formed between them.

2. A lightning arrester comprising a pair of opposed horn-shaped arcing members, yielding shanks therefor, means for producing a magnetic field in the vicinity of the members and adjustable means for determining the minimum air gap between them.

3. A lightning arrester comprising a pair of yielding arcing members, means for determining the minimum air gap between them, and a magnetic blow-out coil, energized when a discharge takes place across the gap, for influencing the yielding members and extinguishing the are.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 24th day of Sept,

RAY P. JACKSON, Witnesses R. J. DEARBORN, B, B. HINEs.

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