US3649789A

US3649789A - Electrical switch apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3649789A
Application number: US88957A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kurt Stoll
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-11-02
Filing date: 1970-11-02
Publication date: 1972-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 1989-03-14

Abstract

An electrical switch includes sets of contacts and countercontacts, one set being mounted on a movable carrier which is moved by a pneumatic cylinder and piston arrangement in one direction and by return springs in the other direction. The air inlet into the pressure chamber of the pneumatic arrangement is provided with a ball valve which allows only a slow flow of air into the working chamber during movement of the contacts towards engaging position but allows rapid movement to disengaging position.

Description

United States Patent smn [ Mar. 14, 1972 [54] ELECTRICAL SWITCH APPARATUS [72] Inventor: Kurt Stoll, Schanbacher Str. 48, Esslinger-Hegensberg, Germany [22] Filed: Nov.2, 1970 [2l] Appl. No.: 88,957

[52] US. Cl ..200/82 R, 200/166 H [51] Int. Cl. "H0lh 35/38 [58] Field oi Search ..200/82 R, 83 R, 83 J, l66 H;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,472,984 10/1969 Cusick ..200/82RX 3,433,909 3/1969 Phlieger,Jr. ..200/82R McMorran et al ..200/34 Mighton ..200/83 R X Primary Examiner-C. L. Albritton Attorney-Jennings Bailey, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT An electrical switch includes sets of contacts and countercontacts, one set being mounted on a movable carrier which is moved by a pneumatic cylinder and piston arrangement in one direction and by return springs in the other direction. The air inlet into the pressure chamber of the pneumatic arrangement is provided with a ball valve which allows only a slow flow of air into the working chamber during movement of the contacts towards engaging position but allows rapid movement to disengaging position.

8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMARMIHYZ 3 549 7 9 INVDVTOR.

V m7? I'M/L BY ELECTRICAL SWITCH APPARATUS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to an electricalswitch apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE'INVENTION The purpose .of thepresent invention is to make. a switch apparatus, particularlya switch'contactor, which being simple hydraulic work chamber, whose movable transmission member is fixed by an. intermediate memberto. a movably. guided carrier for the contacts or the countercontactsand upon whose actuation the movement of the carrierv corresponding to the relative movement between contacts and countercontacts is effected with the help of thepressure medium through the intermediate member.

The pneumatic or hydraulic work chambercan be a singleaction .or double-action cylinder, and a workpiston can, for example, be movably guided to and fro in the work cylinder, or a diaphragm, or roll diaphragm can be used as a transmission member.

The arrangement accordingto the invention,,which.is best suited for switchingand controllingmotors, has the advantage that item be used even in areas and situationswhere there is risk of explosion, as instead of electrical-or magnetic actuation, thedevice isoperated pneumatically or hydraulically, The lifeduration of thenew apparatusis considerably. larger than in known comparable arrangements, .as in the latter the.

actuating-magnetis destroyed, damaged or worm out after a.

number of switch-operations, and the, airgapbecomes correspondingly narrower. In this waythelife duration can be increased-five to. lO-times, and the-device is correspondingly. more reliable. Further, the bounce of:the contactsinthenew device is considerably reduced. Finally, there isthe further-advantage that, contrary to -known devices,,a higheractuating force can be employed; this force isconstant, leading'in the final analysis to a reduction in switching delay. When the subject matter is designed as a so-called contactor with double interruptor, the-life durationis increased as aresult of the uniform distribution of oxidation-on the pairs of contacts.

BRIEFDESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 of the

drawings contacts

1, 2 are providedon'carrier 3, designed. as a longitudinal rod-shaped member-which, in the. embodiment shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, has the form of a so-called contactorwith double interrupter, and car? ries pairs of opposed contacts .1 and 2. Naturally, several pairsv of such contacts can be provided. With each pair. of

contacts

1 and 2 there is in the present case associated a pair of counter contacts'4and 5 which are combined in pairs, which are stationarily arranged in-the casing. On theside of carrier 3 facing the actuatingdevice, a supportplate or. rod .6:,-is,provided, on t whichengage return springs 7,' 8,;such as compressionsprings, associated with thecarrier, the other ends of said-springs being. supported ona part9 of the. casing,-

In order to. actuate thecontaets and- -,count.ercontacts,.that is 4 in orderto produce-.therelative movement :between -.the co.n-. tacts'and countercontacts, which servesto applysaidcontacts.

and countercontacts to oneanother ori to, separate ,them, a

pneumatic or hydraulicwork..chamberlO isaprovided, according to the invention-as an actuatingdevice, said-work chamber. 10 beingdesignedas a .singleacti on.or asa double-action chamber.- In .thecaseofthe single-actionchamberyas in-Ythe embodiment :shown' in the drawings, the -introduction; of thepressuremedium-into.theworkvchamberthrough apipell is associated .with the movement for-applying the contacts and countercontacts tooneanother, while, in orderto producethe.

opposite movement, oneormore; retum-springs is :orare. as-.

sociated'with" a transmissionmember l3rwithinthe work cylinder. Such aretumspringmay for example-be arranged inside. the; cylinder, andv act directly. on the transmission member. Thesprings .7, 8 already mentioned; or onlytone suchv spring, may be used asareturn spring-,- Finally, return springs may be associated both'with the transmission member,and; with the-contactcarrier, that is..a -c ombination of theabove;

embodiment :may. b.e provided. In .-the case of the double-ac.-

tion chamber, the return springs may be eliminated I or, if necessary, weaker springs may be=used.1 As the drawingv shows,

the work chambermaybe acylinderand have as atransmis:

sion member'apiston- 13 which-ismovable to and fro inside the-cylinder. In the single-action pneumatic cylinder shown in the. drawing, .14 is the exhaust, However, othertypes of actuating devices may be used; In all *cases the actuating-.deviceofthe. carrier isparallel to that of the transmission memberof-the, workchamber, orthey coincide.- The transmission ,member is. rigidly-connected to themovably guided contact carrier by the; rod .152.

Theactuating device, the contactsand .theycountercontacts arehoused :with their associatedjactuating =and transmissioncomponents, ,in :a casing shown-only. diagrammatically at 16.; the space taken up canbe kept small."

In the embodimentshownin llfi: l;o f.the;dr,a r/rings,springsv 7 and .S-aredesigned ascompressionsprings; likewise, a spring.

acting on piston 13. might .be designedasta compression sprin The springsnof the embodimentsshown tend -1to .separate t the contacts. andcountercontacts, while the; pressure medium. tends to-dothe opposite, thatzis; totbring the-contacts andcountercontactstogetheri However, the springs maypf course alternatively beused'as tension springs, which .tenditobringthe contacts and countercontacts together, whileinthis casethe. pressuremedium has. the: purpose of: separatingv them,

When the springs are designed astension springs, the contacts. 1 and 2tbeing arranged on the otherside ofthecountercontacts 3;and, 4,- relative to the view in the drawing, provision can be. made for the. springs to separate the contacts and countercontacts, and ,for the-pressure medium to bringthemtogether.

By.interchanging the air feed-and evacuation pipes, finally,

other variantscan beformed. All these variantsare intended for special examplesof use. 7

In FIG. 2 of'the drawings a single-action pneumatic cylinder 20 is usedwithin which the-piston,2l.car rying a sealing ring ring 23' isv movable to,.and fro according-toarrows22': The

pressure air is. introducedwithin the

cylinder throughthe channels

24, 25-.1Whenair is entering through ,these channels,

ball26 rests on its seat 28, but-there is not-produceda sealing effect, since the ball 2.6.does notperfectly adhere to its seat. represented-by thebush or-sleeve-28. Between-balllfizandits seat 28- there remains-a radially directedfreespace or interspace 29;through .which-pressure air coming-fromchannel 25 passes through ,channel .2.7 into .the chamber 30of. the singleactionspneumatic. cylinder in order to -move thepiston v.and' its piston rod;3l in downward directionaccording to-ar row 22a.

Thereby, the carrierr32which is connected with the head 33- of the piston rod 31 by a projection 34 engaged into the groove 35 of the head 33 is moved also downwards according to arrow 22a and thus the contacts and countercontacts are applied one against the other. The purpose of the ball 26 which is subjected to the action of the spring 36 is to reduce the cross section of the passage of pressure air from channel 25 to channel 27 as much as possible, in the manner ofa throttle. By this means the contact carrier is prevented from moving with too great a speed downwards in direction of the closed position of the contacts, whereby undesired vibrations of the contacts could arise. When the contacts are to be opened, then pressure is relieved, for example, by means ofa valve not shown, connected with channel 24 and this latter channel is connected with the atmosphere. Then, pressure spring moves piston rod 31 and piston 21 in upward direction according to arrow 22b and the air contained in chamber 30 is expelled through

channels

27, 25 and 24, whereby ball 26 is lifted from its seat so that the air may pass unhindered and with full speed through these channels.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. An electrical switch apparatus comprising sets of contacts and countercontacts which are connectable to electrical cables and which correspond to one another, and an actuating device associated with these contacts and countercontacts for producing a relative movement between the contacts and countercontacts in order to bring them together or to separate them, the actuating device including a fluid pressure work chamber containing a pressure medium, a movably guided carrier for one of the sets, said actuating device having a movable transmission member connected to said movably guided carrier on whose actuation the movement of the carrier corresponding to the relative movement between contacts and countercontacts is effected with the help of the pressure medium, wherein the fluid-pressure work chamber is provided with an air inlet, and a throttle in said air inlet for reducing the speed of the air entering the work chamber, and wherein the throttle comprises a ball and a spring acting on the ball and a seat associated with said ball, a passage with small cross section betweensaid ball and said seat which passage connects said inlet with said work chamber, whereby the pressure air issuing from said work chamber upon disengaging the said contacts from said countercontacts lifts said ball from its seat.

2. A switch apparatus according to claim I, wherein the fluid-pressure work chamber is a single-action cylinder.

3. A switch apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the introduction of the pressure medium into the work cylinder is associated with the movement for bringing together the contacts and countercontacts, and return spring means associated with the transmission member in order to produce the opposite movement.

4. A switch apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid-pressure work chamber is a double-action work cylinder.

5. A switch apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contacts are arranged on the carrier whose direction of movement is parallel to that of the transmission member of the work chamber while the countercontacts are fixed.

6. A switch apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said sets constitute a contactor with double interruptor.

7. A switch apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the carrier for the movable contacts is a longitudinal rod-shaped member, whose longitudinal medial axis coincides with the direction of movement of the transmission member, and which carries pairs of opposed contacts and, on the side facing the piston, a support plate or rod, on which the return spring means engages.

8. A switch apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a work piston is guided to move to and fro in a work cylinder constituting the work chamber, said piston constituting the movable transmission member.

Claims

1. An electrical switch apparatus comprising sets of contacts and countercontacts which are connectable to electrical cables and which correspond to one another, and an actuating device associated with these contacts and countercontacts for producing a relative movement between the contacts and countercontacts in order to bring them together or to separate them, the actuating device including a fluid pressure work chamber containing a pressure medium, a movably guided carrier for one of the sets, said actuating device having a movable transmission member connected to said movably guided carrier on whose actuation the movement of the carrier corresponding to the relative movement between contacts and countercontacts is effected with the help of the pressure medium, wherein the fluid-pressure work chamber is provided with an air inlet, and a throttle in said air inlet for reducing the speed of the air entering the work chamber, and wherein the throttle comprises a ball and a spring acting on the ball and a seat associated with said ball, a passage with small cross section between said ball and said seat which passage connects said inlet with said work chamber, whereby the pressure air issuing from said work chamber upon disengaging the said contacts from said countercontacts lifts said ball from its seat.

2. A switch apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid-pressure work chamber is a single-action cylinder.