US1116303A

US1116303A - Arc-extinguisher.

Info

Publication number: US1116303A
Application number: US68655412A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred M Locke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1912-03-27
Filing date: 1912-03-27
Publication date: 1914-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 1931-11-03

Description

F. M. LOCKE.

ARC EXTINGUISHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, 1912.

1,116,303, Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

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Z 35 affozncu FRED M. LocKE, or vrc'ron, NEW YORK.

ARC-EXTINGUISHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 27, 1912.

Patented Nov. 3, Serial No. 886,554;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED M. Locus, of Victor, in the county of'Ontario, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Arc-Extinguishers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in electric arc extinguishers of the class set'forth in my pending application #(illjiofi filed July 31, 1911. in which the arc is instantly broken upon its formation by the blast of an explosive ignited by such are.

It is well known that in overland transmission of electric current and particularly that of high voltage, the feed wires which are supported at intervals upon suitable insulators usually of high electrical resist-' ance become surcharged with extra current especially during severe electrical storms and that this excess of current in seeking the course of least resistance to the ground is more or less localized at and upon'the in" sulators thereby producing arcs of abnormal sizeand tension between diiferent v portions of the insulator or between such insulator and its supporting arm or pin. Under: these conditions it frequently happens that one ormore insulators and their supporting pins and cross arms vill be burnt out or broken down to such an extent as to short circuit the feed wire to the ground or otherwise, thereby. cutting off further distribution of the current. It has been discovered that these arcs form most frequently between the edges of the upper surfaces of the insulator and its supporting arm, and that if some means-could be devised for breaking the are at substantially the same instant that it is formed, the destructive results hereinbcfore mentioned would be largely obviated, and the main object of my present invention is to provide simple means for localizing any are or arcs which may be formed at different points around the edge of the insulator and to utilize the heat developed by the localization'of such are in igniting an explosive and directing the blast across the arc to=extinguish the same instantly upon its formation, thereby preserving the integrity of the insulator and its supporting means and also permitting the use of the same receptacle and terminals for the. reception and 'ignition of an additional explosive charge.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the (Following description:

In the dra\vings-Figure 1 is a side ele- 'vation of an insulator and portion of a conductor supported thereon. together with the insulator support and a series of my improved arc-breaking devices in operative position around the insulator. Fig.- 2 is an elevation of the same insulator, conductor and support showing a plurality of are breaking devices supported on the cross arm at different pointsaround the. insulator in a manner slightly different from that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is'an enlarged sectional view through one of the cartridges and igniting terminals.

These are extinguishers are adapted to be used in connection with any form of insulator but more especially with the larger insulators adapted to carry the conductors as A- for high potential current and for this purpose I have shown the usual sectional type of insulator 1- composed of hellshaped sections nested one Within the other -iv1th suitable means as a tie wire a' for attaching the feed Wire A-- to the top of the'insulator. This insulator is supported upon a suitable central pin bwhich is secured in the usual manner to a cross arm 'B of a pole or tower not shown.

The upper insulator section to which the feed \vire is directly scour-ed is of considerably greater surface ar a than the remaining underlying insulator 'ons and although it is supported considerable dis tance above the cross arni'to form a comparatively long intervening air 3 to reduce as far as possible any liability of hort circuit from the feed wire to the ground through the pole under. normal conditions, it is always exposed to the direct action of abnormal charges or surcharges of electricity from the feed \vireparticularly during electric storms when the highly surcharged current following the feed wire ill be localized at the'insulator, the surface of which under such conditions is more or less moist, thereby increasing the tendency of the highly surcharged current to are across such intervening air space to the cross arm and thence to the ground through the pole. This abnormal arcing of the curr usually takes place between the outer ed,

of the upper insulator section and its sup porting pin or cross arm according to the course of least resistance and frequently results in burning out or breaking down the insulator and its supports and in order to obviate as far as possible these destructive results, I have interposed one or more, in this instance four, sets of electric onduetors --l and 2 in the gap betr: een the uppermost insulator section and cross arm and have connected in each set of conductors a cartridge shell -3 plosive material such as a body of powder -l and a suitable wad or plug 3-, the latter serving to retain the powder in the cartridge shell 3-.

As shown in Fig. 1, the conductors -2- converge downwardly and inwardly toward the insulator pin bwhere they are preficrably united to each other and supported upon said pin so that the conductors --2- constitute supports for holding the can tridges -23 at different points around the insulator but some distance apart therefrom with their plugged ends pointing toward the are which may be formed between the conductor and cross arm.

A portion, preferably the bottom at least of the shell 3 containing the explosive lis made of electric conducting material as metal and in this instance this metallic portion of the shell is connected directly to the support -2- so as to form one of the ignition terminals for the explosive. The conductor 1- constitutes the other i ition terminal and is permanently secure to an insulated portion 5- of the shell as best seen in Fig. 3, said conductor -1-- having its lower end extending into the interior of the shell -3- where it is surrounded by the explosive 4-- and is spaced apart from the adjacent end of the other ignition terminal -2 a distance somewhat less than from other points of the metal portion of the shell so as to produce a spark for igniting the explosive. In other words the insulating material 5- at either side of the conductor 1 is of greater width than the distance between the sparking ends of the conductors -1 and ,Qrso as to quicken the ignition of the explosive instantly upon the formation of any are which may tend to form between the conductor and insulator or between the insulater and its support. As a further means of causing the instantaneous combustion of the explosive, the conductors 1 are extended upwardly to points in proximity to but separated from the periphery of the uppermost insulator section so as to lie in the path of any arc which may tend to form between the conductor and insulator or between the insulator and its support, thereby inducing the arc to follow the conductors 1 and -2- before reaching the insulator supcontainin an ex-' port, thus igniting the explosive and direct ing the blast across the arc to extinguish the same instantly upon its formation and before it has time to do any material damage to the insulator or its support' In Fig. 2 I have shown the conductors -2' corresponding to the conductors -2- as mounted directly upon the cross arm and supporting the cartridge shell -3- in such position as to direct the blast across any arcs which may be formed between the edges of the insulator sections and cross arm. Otherwise the construction of the cartridge and terminals 1 are substantially the same as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The main features of the invention, however consist broadly first in positioning the cartridge so as to direct the blast of the ex plosive into or across any are which may tend to form between the conductor and insulator or between the insulator and its support; second, to arrange the igniting terminals so as to divert a portion at least of the arc thereto and into the explosive instantly upon the formation of such are, thereby igniting the explosive and dischargin; the .blast into the arc with suflicient force to extinguish it immediately upon its formation and third supporting one of the terminal conductors permanently in the cartridge so that the same cartridge and terminals may be reused by refilling the shell with an explosive and inserting a new plug or wad. Further than this, the construction of the cartridge and manner of supporting the terminals may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

hat I claim is:

1. In an arc extinguisher, a receptacle containing an explosive material, a conductor having a portion lying adjacent the path of a possible are and a portion extending within the receptacle and insulated therefrom so that upon the formation of an arc. a spark passing between the conductor and the receptacle will ignite the explosive ductor having a portion lying in the pathof a possible arc'and another portion extending through a wall of said recep and insulated therefrom and in contact with the explosive material, a terminal in connection with said receptacle so that upon the formation of an arc, a spark passing between the conductor and the terminal wil ignite the explosive and thereby extinguish the arc.

3. In an arc extinguisher, a receptacle containing an explosive material, a. conductor having a portion lying in the path of a possible are and another portion extending through a wall of said receptacle and insulated therefrom and in contact with the explosive material, a-terminal in connection with and forming a support for said receptacle so that upon the formation of cle, said conducting member separated from the wall of the receptacle through which it passes by insulating material of greater radius than the/distance between said-conducting member and said terminal.

5. In an arc extinguisher, a receptacle containing an explosive material, a conductor having a portion lying in the path of a possible arc.and another portion ex tending through a wall,of said receptacle, a terminal in connection with said receptacle, said conducting member separated from the wall of the receptacle through which it passes by insulating material of greaterradius than' the distance between said conducting member and said terminal. '6. In an arc extinguisher, -a receptacle containing an explosive material, a conductor having a portion lying in the path of a possiblearc and another ortion extending through a Wall of sai receptacle and insulated therefrom, a terminal in connertion with said receptacle so that upon the formation of an are a spark passin betweenthe conductor and the terminal Wil ignite the explosive and thereby extinguish the arc.

7. In an explosive cartridge for are ex tinguishers, a metal casing closed at one end and open at the other end and having removable plug in the open end, a conducting member having an exposed portion and another portion cxtendinginto the metal casing and insulated therefrom and so positioned that aspark passing, between the conductor and the casing will ignite the explosive.

In, witness whereof l have hereunto set m 'hanil on this 1.) day of March 1912.

FRED M, LUCKE.

\Vitnesses C. A. Mooua, A, lllGINBO'IIIAM.