US1290860A - Electric fuse. - Google Patents

Description

A. P. BENDER.

ELECTRIC FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5. 1914.

1,290,860. Patented Jan. 7, 1919. 2 SHEETS-SHEET A. P. BENDER.

ELECTRIC FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5. 19m.

1,290,860. Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- FIG. 9

WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

j- MM flaw W M A7 /Z7 25%;?

- CITED ES ATENToF I EQ ALLAN P, BENDEB, OF WILKINSBUBG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB. TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING comm, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that-I, ALLAiv P. BENDER, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of- Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful. Improvement in Electric Fuses; and-I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to electric fuses One object of the invention is to provide a self-contained cartridge in which the fuse element is mounted, which cartridge may be slipped into the ordinary fuse casing and lock'ed therein, Thiscartridgecontains the.

usual inert material for preventing destructive effects of arcing, betweenthe terminals of the broken fuse and to prevent transmission of thecurrent through the gases of the fused material from reaching the terminals of the fuse member. A further 'object is to provide improved means for positioning the fuse cartridge within the casing so that the securing caps may be readily slipped into lace; and a further ob ect is to improve t e securing caps to provide a lock for holding the fuse cartridgg inthe casing in proper position. A furtherobject isto provide means whereby the 'caps at the end of'the casing may be secured to the casing without dependin upon screw threads in the fibrous material of the casing itself. Afurther object is to provide means. for determining the rating of the fuse without removing same from the casing. -Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawiings, which illustrate preferred embodi ments of the invention, and inwhich Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fuseiembodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view takenvat right angles to Fig. 1; Fi 3 is an end view showing the casing cap in oaking position ;-ZF1g. 4 is an end view showing the casing in unlocked position Fig. 5 is an Specification of Letters Patent f Application filed December 5, 1914. Serial No. 675,633.

' reduced central ELECTRIC FUSE.

FatentedJan. 7, 1919.

end view showing the cap removed; Fig. 6 is a perspective new of. the fuse cartridge adapted to be slipped withinthe fuse casing;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary end view of the fuse 'casing showing certain details; Fign'S is a' perspective view of a holding and alining member for the fuse element and the casing cap; Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig.1 of a modified form of fuseelement; Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view on the line l010,

Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is'a. side elevation of the fuse element detached; Fig. 12 is a view ofrthe' blank from which the fuse element, Fig. 11, is formed; and Fig. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view of a further modification.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, the fuse element'proper consists of a strip 1 of zinc or other suitable material, which may have a fusing operation This fuse element is contained within a cartridgelike structure comprising the cylindrical body portion 3-and the fuse element may be surrounded with a,

packing 6 of comminuted plaster of Paris, whiting, asbestos or the like to form a heat dissipating, flame quenching medium, which portion 2 to facilitate the v will preyent damaging effects of arcing be tween the terminals of the broken fusememher, and will also prevent access of gases "formed during the fusing operation from reaching theterminals of the circuit.

T0 the fuse member 1 may be attached the copper terminals 7-7 in any desired manner, as by means of screws 88. The

complete self-contained fuse member and its cartridge is illustrated in per pective view Fig. 6. This cartridge may be slipped within the ordinary fuse casing comprislngthe cylindrical casing body 9 and the end caps 10. The casing 9 may be provided with an' aperture 9', and the cartrid e with a num .ber '3 indicating the rating of the fuse,

adapted to be in alinement with the aperture 9 so that said rating may be determined without removing the cartridge from the casing. 'In ordinary practice, it is usual to thread the caps 10 and the ends of'the fuse casing 9 and screw the one upon the other. This is found unsatisfactory since on account ofthe fibrous nature of the casing, the screw threads thereon quickly wearndown and arestripped. I overcome this difficulty and' at the same time facilitate the proper alinement. of the terminals of the fuse member within thecasing by the following means.

Referring to Fig. 8, I provide a locking member consisting of, a disklike body portion 11- having'a slot 12 to receive the fuse terminals '7, said member 11 having opposite lugs 13 adapted to fit within notches 14,

Fig. 7, of the fuse casing-9. Locking member 11 is also provided with the lugs 15 at right angles thereto, each having-a threaded aperture 16. In assembling the fuse cartridge within the casing 9, the terminals 7 are first secured to the projecting ends of the fuseelement 1, and the cartridge is then slipped into place within the casing 9. Thelocking .members 11 are then slipped over the terminals 7 and the lugs 13 are seated,

within the notches 14 of the casing. 'This 1 brings the threaded lugs 15 into register with apertures 17 in the ends of the casing 9. It will be'seen, therefore, that the ter- 'minals' 7 may thus be held in exact aline- 30 'the fuse cartridge and its terminals cen-' trally within the casing 9, I provide the closment within the casing. In order to hold ing and locking caps 10, the ends of which are provided with elongated oval openings 18 of an extreme length slightly greater than the width of the terminal 7. These caps are slipped over the terminal. 7 and down into place upon the ends of the casing ,9.- As shown in 1, the opposite side edges of the termlnals 7 are kerfed or notched as at 19so that when the caps 10 are turned after being seated upon the ends of the casing, the edges at the narrowed portion of the opening 18lengage' these notches 19 and lock the fuse terminals in position. The caps 10 are also perforated as at 20, Fig. 2, to receive the locking screws 21,

j which pass through the apertures 17 of'the casing and engage in the threaded apertures 16 of the lugs 15 of the locking member 11. Thus it will be seen that by threading the screws 21 into the lugs 15, the locking member 11, cap 10, and easing are securely fastened together, with the ends of the ,fiber' casing simply clamped between the flange of the cap 10 and the lugs 15; and it will be seen further, that the fastening of the caps 10 on the casing does not depend upon threads formed in the fibrous material of the casing.

' In the embodiment of the invention illus 'trated in Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, all parts are as heretofore described with. the exception of the fuse element proper. In. this" case, I have found that by forming the'fuse element intermediate its ends in hollow form of so-called expanded metal, I may use a very much thinner'material for the fuse element, and obtain better distribution of the fusible substance. In this case, referring to Fig. 12, the fuse element is formed of a blank 22 of very thin fusible material.

This blank is provided-with a number of parallel staggered cuts 23, and if desired, certain of these cuts may include apertures 24. The blank so prepared may then be folded upon itself and the central part expanded as indicated in Fig. 11 formin a cylindrical central body portion with attened ends, said flattened ends beinglapertured as at 25 to receive the terminal attaching screws 8. i

In the embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Fig. 13, the parts, in the main, may be as heretofore descrlbed, but the manner of attaching the terminals 7 is modified in that I employ flexible connections 26 be-' tween the fuse member land said terminals 7 .The terminals 7 each consist of flat body portion 7 having lateral projections 7 3 at the outer end thereof. The cap 10 in this case, may be as-heretofore described,

scope of the appended claims.

' WhatI claim is:

1. An electric fuse comprising a fuse casing, a fuse element mounted therein and-havingthe usual' terminals, locking members adapted to he slipped over the said termi- "nals, and having means to hold said termi nals in alinement within said'casing, a cap adapted to' be slipped over said terminals and seated upon the ends of said casing, said cap having self-contained meansto lock the fuse element within said casing, and auxiliary locking means to lock said cap, looking member, and casing together.

2. An electric fuse comprising a fuse casing, a fuse element mounted therein and having the usual terminals, locking members adapted to be slipped over the said terminals, and having means to hold said terminals in alinement within said casing, caps adapted to be slipped over said terminals and seated uponthe ends of said casing, said caps each having means to lock the fuse element within said casing, said locking members each having threaded lugs extending In testimony whereof, I the said ALLAN along the inner Wall of said cgsing, and said P. BENDER, have hereunto set my hand. ca having apertures in its ange Whereb said can and locking member and said eas ALLAN BENDER' 5 ing may be secured together by means of Witnesse's:

screws passing through said cap-flange, c'as- JOHN F. WILL, ing Wall and threaded into said lugs. J. R KiELLER.

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