US3602680A - Switch contact structure - Google Patents

Switch contact structure Download PDF

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Publication number
US3602680A
US3602680A US30514A US3602680DA US3602680A US 3602680 A US3602680 A US 3602680A US 30514 A US30514 A US 30514A US 3602680D A US3602680D A US 3602680DA US 3602680 A US3602680 A US 3602680A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
contact
arms
stab
lever arm
reverse current
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US30514A
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English (en)
Inventor
Alfred W Hodgson
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Westinghouse Electric Corp
Original Assignee
Westinghouse Electric Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Westinghouse Electric Corp filed Critical Westinghouse Electric Corp
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3602680A publication Critical patent/US3602680A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/50—Means for increasing contact pressure, preventing vibration of contacts, holding contacts together after engagement, or biasing contacts to the open position
    • H01H1/54—Means for increasing contact pressure, preventing vibration of contacts, holding contacts together after engagement, or biasing contacts to the open position by magnetic force
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02B—BOARDS, SUBSTATIONS OR SWITCHING ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUPPLY OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02B11/00—Switchgear having carriage withdrawable for isolation
    • H02B11/02—Details
    • H02B11/04—Isolating-contacts, e.g. mountings or shieldings

Definitions

  • Renz ZOO/166 E ABSTRACT A switch contact structure including a pair of pivotally mounted, horizontally disposed contact fingers slidably positioned to laterally engage a blade or stab-type electrical contact therebetween, and a pair of vertically disposed flexible, resilient U-shaped shunts each having an upper arm and a lower arm; the lower arm being rigidly secured.- The upper arms of the U-shaped shunts are fixed to electrically conductive lever arms protruding outwardly and laterally from the respective contact fingers.
  • a magnetic field developed by a reverse current flow pattern through the arms of the U-shaped shunts causes a vertical displacement of the upper arm of the U-shaped shunts which imparts a rocking motion to the contact fingers which increases the contact pressure between the contact fingers and the stab-type electrical contact.
  • the magnitude of the contact pressure is controlled by adjusting the active length of the lever arms by varying the lateral distance between the U-shaped shunts and the contact fingers.
  • the invention relates to improved utilization of a pair of U- shaped reverse current shunts for increasing contact pressure of a switch contact structure.
  • FIG. I is a top view of an electrically disengaged isolating switch apparatus in which the invention is embodied;
  • FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in an electrically engaged position
  • FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a high-voltage cabinet including the isolating switch apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2;
  • FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of one switch contact structure of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2;
  • FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4;
  • FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 4;
  • FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C of HG. 4.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 there is illustrated a three-pole isolating switch assembly 10 including switch contact structures 20.
  • the isolating switch assembly 10 is provided with a frame 100 comprising a front panel 102, a back panel 104 made of insulating material, and side plates 106 and 108 rigidly secured together in the form of an open rectangle as viewed from the top.
  • the back panel 104 is provided with apertures 105 through which the spring-biased contact fingers 30 of the switch contact structures respectively are projected and retracted by the action of a cam-shutter mechanism 200 in response to the rotative motion of a handle mechanism 60.
  • the switch contact structures 20 are secured to a slidably mounted carrier 150 for slidably engaging guide. Rollers 152 of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4.
  • Backward and forward movement of the carrier 150 is provided by operating linkage 160 in response to the rotative positioning of the handle mechanism 60 between an ON and OFF position.
  • Forward movement of the carrier 150 produced by rotating handle mechanism 60 to the ON position results in the projection of the contact fingers 30 through the apertures in the back panel 104 as illustrated in FIG. 2 electrically engage the input power stab contacts which are vertically mounted on the back panel 109 of the cabinet.
  • the backward carrier movement produced by rotating the handle mechanism 60 to the OFF position disengages the contact fingers 30 from the respective stab contacts 130 and retracts the contact fingers to the position shown in FIG. 1. i
  • a safety feature is provided by the cam-shutter mechanism 200 which includes a finger 201 extending through a shutter 202 and operating to position the shutter 202 to cover the apertures 105 and consequently the stab contacts 130 in response to movement of the carrier produced by the OFF positioning of the handle mechanism 60, and operating to uncover these apertures in response to movement produced by the ON positioning of the handle mechanism.
  • the apertures 105 are uncovered when the corresponding cutout areas 181 of the shutter 202 are brought into registry therewith.
  • Molded insulator member 131 which is associated with the I stab contacts 130 cooperates with vertical flanges 104A extending rearwardly from the back panel 104 to provide horizontal alignment of the spring-biased contact fingers 30 with the stab contacts 130.
  • FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views of FIG. 4.
  • Elongated contact fingers 30 are secured in an aligned, movable relationship with a support member 50 by shoulder bolts 52 and 54 which pass through clearance holes 51 and 53 respectively.
  • Contact surfaces 32 of the contact fingers 30 which extend beyond the support 50 are biased toward each other by a spring 55.
  • the spring 55 is maintained in a biasing relationship with the contact fingers 30 by the shoulder bolt 52.
  • the spring loading of the contact fingers by spring 55 biases the contact surfaces 32 in a closed contacting relationship in the absence of the stab contact 130 therebetween.
  • the shoulder bolt 54 extends laterally through clearance hole 53in the contact fingers 30 and support 50 to a distance beyond the sides 50A of the support 50 so as to provide physical contact between the contact fingers 32 and the support 50 at the dome-shaped pivot points 34. This permits movement of the contact fingers 30 about the pivot points 34 in response to engagement and disengagement of the contact fingers 30 and the input power stab contact 130.
  • a pin 56 which is rigidly secured in the support 50 loosely engages the contact fingers 30 through elongated apertures 35 to maintain alignment of the contact fingers.
  • the U-shaped shunts are preferably formed of copper with the arms 70A and 70B exhibiting flexible, resilient characteristics.
  • a flow of current indicated by the arrows of FIGS. '2 and 4 from the. stab contact 130 through the contact fingers 30 and the U-shaped shunts 70 to the electrical connector 80 will with the stab contact 130.
  • the spring 55 as shown in FIG. 6 is maintained in compression between a retainer ring 90 and an electrical insulating bushing 92 by the shoulder bolt 52 so as to bias the contact fingers 30 toward each other.
  • the shoulders 92A and 94A of electrical insulating bushings 92 and 94 are inserted in the contact fingers 30 to electrically insulate the contact fingers 30 from the spring 55 to prevent spring damage caused by current flow therethrough.
  • the contact finger rocking motion produced by the reverse current in the U-shaped shunts 70 tilts the contact fingers 30 to increase the contact pressure between the contact surfaces 32 and the stab contact 130.
  • the design of the spring 51 is such as to cause the lower portion of the coils to be compressed to a solid condition in response to a preset contact finger tilting motion to thereby limit the tilting or rocking motion of the contact fingers and translate the upward displacement of the arms 70A of the U-shaped shunt directly into increased contact pressure at point A.
  • the magnitude of contact pressure generated by the action of the U-shaped shunts 70 can be controlled by changing the position of the upper arm 70 in slot 36A of the lever arms 30 so as to vary the active lever arm distance d between the shunt arms 70A and the pivot points 34 as shown in FIG. 5. It is apparent that for the same reverse current flow the contact pressure developed at point A by the contact surfaces 32 will increase as d becomes large and will decrease as d becomes small.
  • the contact pressure can be further altered by varying the length of the arms 70A and 708 as well as the spacing between the arms.
  • the vertically positioned U-shaped shunts minimize the lateral dimension of the switch contact structure over the conventional contact structure employing horizontally positioned U-shaped shunts, and thus permits desirable compact lateral packaging of the contact structures in assemblies such as the isolation switch assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2.
  • a switch structure comprising, a stab-type electrical contact means, movably mounted elongated contact finger means, means biasing said contact finger means in lateral electrical engagement with said stab-type electrical contact means, lever arm means extending from said contact finger means, and flexible, resilient Ushaped reverse current shunt means having a first arm rigidly secured and a second arm in contact with said lever arm means, said U-shaped reverse current shunt means imparting a rocking motion to said contact finger means through said lever arm means in response to displacement motion of said first arm resulting from magnetic forces developed by reverse current flow through the upper and second arms of said U-shaped reverse current shunt means, said rocking motion occurring about the longitudinal axis of said contact finger means and operating to increase the contact pressure between said contact finger means and said stab-type electrical contact means.
  • a stab-type electrical contact means a support plate means, a first and a second elongated contact finger means, each having a contact surface on one side near one end, said first and second contact fingers means movably mounted on said support plate means with side contact surfaces positioned beyond said support plate means and facing each other, means biasing said contact surfaces toward each other for laterally engaging said stab-type electrical contact, a first lever arm means extending from the side of said first contact finger means opposite to said contact surface, a second lever arm means extending from the side of said second contact finger means opposite to said contact surface, and a first and second U-shaped reverse-current shunt means operatively associated with said first and second lever arm means respectively, each U-shaped reverse current shunt means having flexible, resilient first and second arms, said first arms rigidly secured and said second arms in contact with said lever arm means, said first and second U-shaped reverse current shunt means imparting a rocking motion to said first and second contact finger means through'said first
  • said first and said second contact finger means include a dome-shaped pivot point on the side of the contact finger means opposite to said lever arm means, said domeshaped pivot point contacting said support plate means to implement said rocking motion.
  • said means biasing includes a spring member acting in compression against said contact finger means to urge said contact surfaces toward each other for laterally engaging said stab-type electrical contact, the design of said spring member being such as to cause the coils of said spring to go to a solid condition in response to a predetermined displacement of said lower portion of said contact surfaces from said stab-type electrical contact.
  • first and second lever arm means include means for adjustably varying the lever arm distance between said second arms and said contact finger means.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Contacts (AREA)
  • Trip Switchboards (AREA)
US30514A 1970-04-21 1970-04-21 Switch contact structure Expired - Lifetime US3602680A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US3051470A 1970-04-21 1970-04-21

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3602680A true US3602680A (en) 1971-08-31

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US30514A Expired - Lifetime US3602680A (en) 1970-04-21 1970-04-21 Switch contact structure

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US (1) US3602680A (2)
JP (1) JPS5229833Y2 (2)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2394194A1 (fr) * 1977-06-08 1979-01-05 Hazemeijer Bv Dispositif de contact electrique pour une prise amovible
DE2938885A1 (de) * 1979-09-26 1981-04-09 Karl Pfisterer Elektrotechnische Spezialartikel Gmbh & Co Kg, 7000 Stuttgart Last- oder leistungsschalter
FR2542142A1 (fr) * 1983-03-02 1984-09-07 Merlin Gerin Interrupteur ou disjoncteur a pinces d'embrochage perfectionnees

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2394194A1 (fr) * 1977-06-08 1979-01-05 Hazemeijer Bv Dispositif de contact electrique pour une prise amovible
DE2938885A1 (de) * 1979-09-26 1981-04-09 Karl Pfisterer Elektrotechnische Spezialartikel Gmbh & Co Kg, 7000 Stuttgart Last- oder leistungsschalter
FR2542142A1 (fr) * 1983-03-02 1984-09-07 Merlin Gerin Interrupteur ou disjoncteur a pinces d'embrochage perfectionnees
EP0121450A1 (fr) * 1983-03-02 1984-10-10 Merlin Gerin Interrupteur ou disjoncteur à pinces d'embrochage perfectionnées
US4546221A (en) * 1983-03-02 1985-10-08 Merlin Gerin Draw-out switchgear having improved disconnect contacts

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS5229833Y2 (2) 1977-07-07
JPS46115U (2) 1971-12-07

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