US3814887A

US3814887A - Modular disconnecting switch

Info

Publication number: US3814887A
Application number: US00292243A
Authority: US
Inventors: C Cleaveland
Original assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp
Current assignee: CBS Corp
Priority date: 1972-09-25
Filing date: 1972-09-25
Publication date: 1974-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 1991-06-04
Also published as: JPS4992564A

Abstract

A switch including separate switch portions or parts which may be arranged or assembled in various combinations for outdoor or indoor use. The switch parts include a universal tongue adapted to act as a terminal pad and mounting piece for a switch and a universal jaw piece adapted to be assembled on the terminal pad portion of the tongue in various arrangements or configurations. A hinge piece is adapted to pivotally support a blade which may be moved in and out of engagement with the previously described jaw for providing electrical interconnection between circuits connected thereto. The hinge member may also be disposed on the terminal pad portion of the tongue. Electrical contact pieces may be provided as part of a switch, which include copper rivets the heads of which are encapsulated in tungsten alloy or similar material adapted to make repeated electrical contact operations under load conditions without rapid deterioration. When the contact pieces wear, the rivets may be removed and replaced with similar tungsten alloy encapsulated rivet members. This removes the need for complete disassembly of a switch member in the field and complete replacement of a blade. The previously mentioned jaw and hinge member may be mounted in various combinations or arrangements on separate terminal pads. The terminal pads may then be secured to various commercially available and standard support insulators.

Description

United States. Patent H91 Cleaveland June4,1974

[ MODULAR DISCONNECTING SWITCH [75] Inventor: Charles M. Cleaveland, Irwin, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

Pittsburgh, Pa.

122 Filed: Sept. 25, 1972 21 Appl.N0.1292,243

Primary Examiner-Robert K. Schaefer Assistant ExaminerWilliam J. Smith Attorney. Agent, or Firm-M. J. Moran [57] ABSTRACT A switch including separate switch portions or parts which may be arranged or assembled in various combinations for outdoor or indoor use. The switch parts include a universal tongue adapted to act as a terminal pad and mounting piece for a switch and a universal jaw piece adapted to be assembled on the terminal pad portion of the tongue in various arrangements or configurations. A hinge piece is adapted to pivotally support a blade which may be moved in and out of engagement with the previously described jaw for pro viding electrical interconnection between circuits connected thereto. The hinge member may also be dis posed on the terminal pad portion of the tongue. Electrical contact pieces may be provided as part of a switch, which include copper rivets the heads of which are encapsulated in tungsten alloy or similar material adapted to make repeated electrical contact operations under load conditions without rapid deterioration. When the contact pieces wear, the rivets may be removed and replaced with similar tungsten alloy encapsulated rivet members. This removes the need for complete disassembly of a switch member in the field and complete replacement of a blade. The previously mentioned jaw and hinge member may be mounted in various combinations or arrangements on separate terminal pads. The terminal pads may then be secured to various commercially available and standard support insulators.

7 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 419M 8 3814.887

' SHEET 1 0F 5 PATENTEDJMI 41974 sumaurs l MODULAR DISCONNECTING SWITCH CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The subject matter of this application is related to that disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,691,335 issued Sept. 12, 1972 to C. M. Cleaveland and S. A. Milianowicz.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to disconnect switches and, more particularly, to electrical disconnect switches which may be assembled from universal switch portions or parts. I

Electricaldisconnect switches often include three major parts or portions. The first portion isa jaw member having an integrally attached terminal pad portion. The combination terminal pad portion and jaw member may be affixed or secured to an electrical insulator which also acts as a support for the jaw member. Spaced from the jaw member is an integral hinge member and terminal pad which is likewise mounted on a similar electrically'insulating support, such as a porcelain support insulator. Pivotally disposed upon the hinge member is a blade member which may be rotated or actuated into and out of contact or engagement with the jaw member for completing an electrical circuit. In the past, the jaw member, the hinge member and the blade member have been fabricated according to predetermined design or construction standards and found application in a limited and narrow area of use for each predesigned switch. For example, a hinge member ineluding an integral terminal pad may be precast from a bronze or a brass alloy having a certain predetermined shape and having a predetermined number of holes provided therein for mounting on a predetermined type of electrical insulator which may be known as the NEMA A-30 ins'ulator which has four holes placed in the top thereof at 90 intervals with a 3 inch spacing between those holes separated by 180. A precast predetermined hinge member adapted for use on this kind of insulator would not be acceptable for use on an NEMA A- insulator which has four holes displaced 90 and which has only 2 inch centers between those holes spaced 180 apart. Consequently, once a hinge member of the above type has been forged and drilled, there is little or no interchangeability among different switches or with different insulators. A similar problem arises with respect to jaw pieces which are also forged or cast of electrically conducting material, such as copper. Another-common problem that exists with conventional, predesigned and predetermined switches for a limited use is that the number of blade pieces which may be disposed between the jaw and the hinge in an electrically conducting disposition depends upon the previously determined configuration of the jaw and hinge or, said in another way, if the jaw is formed to support two blades and three or four blades are later desired to be disposed between the two circuits to be interconnected, a new jaw and a new hinge piece must be installed or provided on the insulators and a new blade member must be interposed between them. It would be advantageous therefore to be able to quickly change the numberjand configuration of jaw and hinge pieces mounted on the associated insulators to accommodate the possible changing power and voltage requirements of electrical circuits to be interconnected. It would also be advantageous to maintain only a limited inventory of universal switch parts at distribution centers rather than a large and costly inventory of relatively limited and special purpose switch portions or parts. Another problem with electrical disconnect switches lies in the fact that they are often required to open on a'fault or full load current with an are drawn between the separating electrically conducting portions as the opening operation progresses. The effect of the destructive arc is sometimes minimized by providing an arc chute and flicker blade. But, nevertheless, a signifi- Cant portion of current flows between the jaw and the blade in the form of an electric are as the blade is withdrawn. Although special arcing contacts are often provided on these members, it is usually required that an entire blade must be discarded and replaced when the contacts provided thereon wear due to excessive arcing. This is because the special tip which is usually tungsten or a tungsten alloy must be brazed to the blade which is usually cold drawn copper. It would be advantageous to have a tip which is not welded or brazed to the blade but which is fastened or secured in a less permanent fashion, such as by riveting or bolting. Consequently, only the contact piece of the switch blade need be removed in the field and replaced by a similar contact portion. Until now, this could not be done be cause no suitable means had been found to attach the tungsten tip to the heads of the rivets so that a riveting process could be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a switch is tongue-terminal pad member, a jaw member, a hinge member, and a blade mounted contact upon which an arc may impinge upon the opening of the switch on an electrical fault or on an electrical load. Other parts include blade members and a blade mounted eye hook for use in opening and closing the switch member. An important feature of the disclosedswitch construction is that single universal members may be used for a wide variety of switch structures by interconnecting the various members and spacing them on various insulators in a multitude of orientations or arrangements. For exam ple, in one embodiment, the present invention discloses a unitary tongue-terminal pad member which may be disposed upon any one of a number of different kinds of electrical insulators such as identified by the NEMA insulator designations A-IO, A-20, A-30, B-40 and 3-50. In addition, the pads may be oriented at intervals on the previously described insulators to facilitate electrical connection from different directions. Upon the terminal pad portion'of the previously described member may be disposed hinge members or jaws. In addition, the hinges or jaws may be disposed in pairs or singularly on the terminal pads. The tongue portion of the terminal pad member may be adapted to be connected to an external electrical circuit. Alternatively, the tongue portion of the combination tongueterminal pad member may be removed before assembly to form a support pad for a hinge or jaw requiring no separate terminal pad.

In certain embodiments of the invention, terminal pad-tongue members may be disposed in tandem upon the same electrical insulator in the same orientation or in different orientations for the interconnection of multiple circuits or of multiple conductors. The blade,

. 3' which is adapted to be pivotally mounted on a hinge or between hinge members may have disposed on one portion thereof an electrical contact piece formed from tungsten or some similar high strength material having effective electrically conducting properties suitable for carrying the current of an electrical arc which may impinge thereupon during the opening or closing of the switch blade on a jaw member during a fault or load condition of the circuit in which the switch is connected. This contact member may be formed by sintering tungsten or a tungsten alloy material around the head of a copper or similar rivet. The rivet with its tungsten encapsulated head may then be riveted or secured through specially placed holes in the blade to the blade. When the tungsten contacts wear due to excessive arcing, theriveted contacts may be conveniently removed and replaced with new contacts. As can be I seen, the previously described separate and discrete universal switch parts may be produced prior to knowing the exact requirements for any particular switch. When the exact requirements become known, a switch maybe easily assembled to meet these requirements merely by using the previously described interchangeable universal elements in a combination suitable to the switch requirements. A great cost savings may be realized by utilizing productionfacilities to make a large number of limited types of switch parts or members rather than a limited number of a large variety of complete switches. A further cost and time savings may result because the separate universal switch parts may be i made in large quantities rather than in piecemeal fashion. Another advantage lies in the fact that should any part or portion of the overall switch fail, the necessity for replacing the entire switch is alleviated. In such a circumstance, the switch may be disassembled if necessary and the defective portion replaced, as the switch represents a combination of discrete universal parts which cooperate with each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For abetter understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the preferred embodiment exemplary of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a universal combination tongueterminal pad member for use in an electrical disconnect switch;

FIG. 2 shows a universal hinge member for use in an electrical disconnect switch;

FIG. 3 shows a universal jaw member for use in an electrical disconnect switch;

FIG. 4 shows a partially cut-away perspective view of a contact member for use in an electrical disconnect switch;

FIG. 5 shows a partially cut-away perspective view of another embodiment of a contact similar to the one shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the combination tongueterminalpad member'shown in FIG. 1 bolted on an electrical insulator; r

FIG. 7 shows a top view of a combination tongueterminal pad member bolted on a different insulator than that shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a view of a combination tongueterminal pad member bolted on a different insulator than either of those shown in FIGS. 6 and 7;

shown in FIG. 3 and a single combination tongueterminal pad member such as shown in FIG. 1 with the jaw and combination tongue-terminal pad member being oriented differently from those shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 shows the top view of the hinge assembly including'a hinge member such as shown in FIG. 2 and a combination tongue-terminal pad member, such as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 shows a hinge assembly similar to that shown in FIG. 12 but with the hinge member and combination tongue-terminal pad member oriented differently with respect to each other;

FIG. 14 shows a side elevation view of broken-away portions of an electrical disconnect-switch in the open position;

FIG. 15 shows a side elevation of another embodiment of an electrical disconnect switch in the closed or electrically conducting position and including an eye hook; and

FIG. 16 shows a side elevation of another embodiment of a disconnect switch including an arc chute and flicker blade.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, a combination tongue-terminal pad 10 (hereinafter referred to as tongue 10" unless otherwise indicated) is shown. Tongue 10 includes a terminal pad portion 11 into which may be drilled or placed a variety of sets of holes indicated at 12, 14 and 16, respectively. The terminal pad portion 11 of tongue 10 is adapted to be fastened with bolts or similar fastening means by way of holes 12 to an insulator such as the type known by the NEMA B.I.L. standard A-lO, A-20. The holes 14 which may comprise four in number and which are displaced 45 mechanical degrees from the holes 12 are adapted to correspond to similar holes in insulators generally designated as A-30, 8-40 by the previously described standard. Openings or grooves 16 which are aligned radially with holes 14 are adapted to correspond to holes in an insulator designated 8-50 by the previously described standard. Generally, holes 14 have 2 inches between centers, i.e., between oppositely disposed holes or holes which are mechanical degrees apart, holes 12 have 3 inches between centers and grooves or openings 16 have 5 inches between oppositely disposed openings. The other end of tongue 10 comprises a terminal pad 18 to which a conductor or lead terminal may be affixed or fastened for example by placing bolts through the conductor to be fastened to terminal pad 18 through holes 20 or 21 and affixing a nut to the end thereof. If necessary, holes 20 may be tapped and screws or bolts may be tightened into them rather than into a separate nut. A line of separation indicated at 22 exists between terminal pad portion 11 and tongue portion 18. If no external circuit is necessary, tongue member l0 may. be cut in any convenient 'manneralong line 22 so that only the terminal pad portion 11 remains. Tongue member may be comprised of any suitable electrically conducting material but preferably hard or cold drawn copper is used. 7

Referring now to FIG. 2, a hinge member which may comprise, for example, a portion of hard or cold drawn copper material or stock bent at one point thereof to form a horizontal portion 32 and a vertical portion 34. Horizontal portion 32 may have holes 38 provided therein which generally align with holes 14 in tongue member 10. That is, the distance between centers for holes 38 is approximately two inches. Vertical portion 34 has holes or openings 36 disposed therein for convenient purposes. Hole 36a, for example, may be aligned to support the axle of a pivotally mounted knife blade, not shown. It will be noted that spring members or bushings 42 are shown disposed adjacent hole 36a for providing spring tension and separation for the previously described knife blade.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a jaw portion or member is showncomprising a horizontalportion 52 and a vertical portion 53 similar to the horizontal and

vertical portions

32 and 34, respectively, of the hinge member of FIG. 2'. Horizontal portion 52 has disposed therein holes which generally align with holes 14 in the previously described tongue member 10, that is, they have 2 inch centers similar to holes 38 shown in the hinge 30 of FIG. 2. Vertical portion 54 has disposed therein a hole 58 which may be used to accommodate a portion of a locking mechanism for jaw piece 50. Jaw piece or member 50 has disposed thereon in region 59 a contact member 62. Jaw piece 50, like hinge 30 and tongue 10, is-preferably formed from hard or cold drawn copper by a sta'mping-and-bending or similar process. The contact piece 62 is preferably formed from some arc resistant material, such as tungsten or tungsten carbide, which may be formed by molding, sintering or similar process. It may be affixed or secured to jaw piece 50in region 59 by suitable means, such as brazing, welding or some similar process or it may be affixed thereto by a riveting process to be described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 4, one embodiment of an electrically conducting contact piece is shown. Contact piece 70 may engage contact piece 62 of jaw 50 as shown in, FIG. 3. when a blade upon which contact piece 70 may be affixed engages jaw 50. Consequently, an arc may be drawn between a portion of contact 70 and contact piece 62 in jaw 50 during an opening or a closing operation of a switch which is conducting electrical current or which may have a voltage difference applied between electrical poles thereof. Contact piece 70 comprises a hard or cold drawn copper rivet 76 having a neck piece 72 and a head 74. A tungsten carbide or tungsten alloyed material 78 is formed around head piece 74 by a suitable process such as molding, sintering or any other convenient process for encapsulating head 74 with the contact material 78.

In one embodiment of the invention, the neck portion 72 of rivet 76 may be passed or assembled through a hole in a blade member of a switch blade, and then a portion of neck 72 may be formed into a rivet to secure contact member 72 to the blade.

Referring to FIG. 5, another embodiment of an encapsulated rivet similar to that shown in FIG. 4 is depicted. In this case, rectangular rivet section 80 comprises two or, in some instances more, spaced rivets 76 each including a neck portion 72 and a head 78. A

, contact member 82 which may be tungsten carbide or some similar material is formed about the heads of the in which powdered tungsten alloy material is fused into i a hardened contact portion. As was the case with rivet contact member 70 shown in FIG. 4, the rivets may comprise hard drawn copper rivets, the necks 76 of which are easily riveted to a portion of a knife blade or switch member.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a tongue member 10, such asshown in FIG. 1, is shown affixed or secured to an electrical insulator 86 which may be of a type such as the A-20 type insulator previously referred to. A plurality of bolts 88, preferably four, are fed through holes 14 in the terminal pad section 11 of tongue member 10. These bolts pass through the holes 14 and are screwed into tapped corresponding holes in the insulator member 86. The tongue member 18 is provided or available for connection to an external electrical circuit.-

Referring now to FIG. 7, tongue member 10 is shown secured to an insulating member 90 which may be of the type known as A-3O or 8-40 of the previously described standards. It will be noted that holes 14 are not employed for fastening purposes in this case, but rather, holes 12 have bolts 92 therein-disposed which may have a different length, diameter and thread pitch than bolts 14 shown in FIG. 6. Bolts 92 pass through the holes 12 in the terminal pad section 11 of tongue member 10 and into tapped holes in the previously described insulator member 90. Again, a plurality of bolts, preferably four bolts is used, but any number less than four but at least one may be employed to secure tongue member 10 to insulator 90. It will be noted that holes 14 are available or free for other purposes and, in this case, holes 14 may have threaded inserts pressed or tapped therein so that other members, previously discussed, may be secured to tongue member 10.

Referring now to FIG. 8, still another combination including tongue member 10 is shown in which it is secured to an insulator member 94 which may be of the With respect to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, it will be recalled that a universal tongue member may be fastened to three different kinds of electrical insulators each having different hole sizes, thread pitches and hole orientations. It should also be realized that each of the tongue members 10in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 may be alternately disposed in four other positions or orientations, each of which is 90 mechanical degrees displaced from the preceding one. For example, tongue member B0 in FIG. 6 may be rotated 90 clockwise, clockwise or 90 counterclockwise from the position shown and then fastened. In each case, the holes 14 will align with similar holes in the insulator 86 so that the tongue member 16 may be secured by means of fastening means or bolts 88 to the insulator 86. The same principle applies for tongue member 10 in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively. In FIG. 8, hole 14 may be tapped or receive a tapped insert so that other parts or hardware associated with or forming part of a disconnect switch may be fastened to tongue member 10 without directly fastening the hardware or parts to insulator 94. Also in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 the'tongue 10 may be stacked in multiples to increase the current rating of the terminal.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a jaw assembly 98 for an electrical disconnect switch is shown. It will be noted that tongue 10 having a terminal pad 11 and a tongue member 18 is disposed upon an insulator 86 similar to that arrangement shown in FIG. 6. In addition,

complementary jaw members

50 and 50A which are mirror images of one another are shown disposed upon the terminal pad section I] of tongue member 10 by

bolts

88 and 88A in

holes

60 and 60A in the jaw sections or

members

50 and 50A, respectively, so that the

bolts

88 and 88A may pass through tongue member 10 into associated aligned holes in conductor 86 whereupon they may be tightened to secure the assembly 98 so that

jaw members

50 and 50A are tightly secured to tongue member I and electrical insulator 86. It will be noted in this case that the bolts for securing the jaw piece 50 to tongue member are the same bolts which secure tongue member 10 to tapped holes in insulator 86. It should be recalled in this case that any one of the two

jaw members

50 or 50A may be omitted from the assembly of FIG. 9 or may be rotated 90 in either direction or I80 degrees to realign the direction of the

jaw pieces

50 and 50A. In addition,

jaw pieces

50 and 50A may be interchanged to place the vertical portions of

jaw pieces

50 and 50A closer together. In another embodiment, two jaw pieces 50A or two jaw pieces 50 rather than one of each may be employed in a particular application similar to that shown in FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a jaw assembly 100 similar in many respects to the jaw assembly 98 shown in FIG. 9 is shown. In this case, jaw piece 50 is moved to the other side of tongue member 10 and secured by means of bolts 88 through holes 60 in the jaw piece 50 and holes 14 (not shown) in tongue member 10 to the insulator 86. Of course, if larger insulators such as 90 or 94 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively, are used, the bolts for attaching jaw member 50 to tongue member 10 will not be the same.

Referring now to FIG. 11, an alternate switch jaw assembly 101 is shown in which the tongue member 10 has been rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees with respect to jaw member 50. Bolts or fastening means 88 are assembled or passed through holes 60 in the jaw member 50 and corresponding aligned holes 14 (not shown) in the tongue member 10 into tapped holes (not shown) in insulator 86.

Referring ,now to FIG. I2, a top view of a switch hinge assembly I02 is shown in which a tongue member 10 is affixed or secured to an insulator 94 by means of four bolts 96 which pass through grooves or openings 16 in the terminal pad portion 11 oftongue member 10 into corresponding tapped holes in insulator member 94. By tightening bolts 96, tongue member I0 may be secured to the top of insulator member 94. A hinge member 30 is disposed on the terminal pad portion 11 of tongue member I0 so that the previously described flat portion 32 abuts the upper surface of terminal pad I I. Bolts 88 are assembled through holes 38 in the horizontal portion 32 of the hinge member 30. These bolts are tightened into tapped holes 14 (not shown) in terminal pad I] of tongue 10.

Referring now to FIG. 13, an alternate switch hinge assembly 104 is shown in which a tongue member I0 is fastened to an insulator member 94 by providing four bolts 96 which pass through openings 16 into corresponding holes in the insulator member 94. A hinge member 30 is secured to tongue member 10 by feeding or screwing bolts 88 through holes 38 into tapped holes 14 (not shown) in hinge member 10. It will be noted that the protrusion of the tongue portion 18 in FIG. 13 is opposite to that of the tongue portion shown in FIG. 12. With respect to FIGS. 12 and 13, the tongue members 10 may be oriented in at least three other dispositions, namely 90 counterclockwise, 90 clockwise and 180 away from the disposition shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, respectively. In addition, hinge members 30 shown similar to the arrangement of the

plural jaw members

50 and 50A in which said jaw members are shown disposed in FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a complete knife switch assembly 106 is shown. Kinfe blade 108 is pivotally disposed in hinge member 30 at one end 112 of knife blade 108 by a pin or bolt 114 about which is disposed washers or spring members 36a. A nut 40 is shown for securing the blade member 108 to the bolt 114 at the vertical portion 34 of binge member 30. Horizontal portion 32 of hinge member 30 may be fastened to any of the previously described types of insulators. The mid portion 110 of blade 108 has disposed therein two holes 116 and 120. Hole 116 is disposed to receive an extension arm 118 of a mechanical or electrical actuating member 119. Member I19 may cause extension arm 118 to move blade 108 into or out of electrical contact or engagement with jaw members 50. The

other end 121 of blade 108 has placed therein holes 122, I24 and 126. In addition, a generally transverse contact array 128 is shown which may make positive electric contact with portions of jaw member 50 when blade 108 is actuated to a close position with respect to jaw 50. Longitudinal slots or holes 130 which provide for three independent contacts I28a, l28b and 128 c on blade 108 are also provided. These grooves or slots 130 are provided for other purposes also, such as, enhanced air circulation in the region of end 121 of blade 108 and when current ratings demand extra contact points. Blade 108 has disposed therein suitable holes in which the tungsten contacts or may be disposed for making initial contact with or supporting an arc between blade I08 and contact 62 on jaw section 50 when blade 108 is closed on jaw 50 of higher electrical potential or when blade 108 is withdrawn from jaw 50. It is not envisioned that of

contacts

70 and 80 need both be present on the same blade at the same time nor in the embodiment shown in FIG. 14. However, since switch member 108 may be a double throw type switch, contacts 80 may make initial contact with a similar jaw 50, not shown, but disposed to the left of hinge member 30 in FIG. 14. Naturally, contact

members

70 and 80 may be interchanged or completely omitted if desired depending on the fault closing rating of the switch. For example, a single circular contact member 70 may be disposed on blade 108 rather than the two shown in FIG. 14. Alternately, a plurality of contacts greater than two may also be used.

Referring now to FIG. 15, switch structure 132 having a blade member 108a is shown in the closed position. A hinge member 30 is shown on the left the horizontal portion 32 of which is bolted to a tongue meber and an electrical insulator 86. Bolt 88 passes through holes'38 and horizontal portion 32 of hinge 30 and through aligned holes 14 in tongue member 10 to be tightened into threaded holes 135 in insulators 86. A hinge pin 114 is shown disposed between blade sec- .tion 108a and hinge 30 so that bladesection 108 may be rotated pivotally about pin 114 in hinge 30. Disposed opposite the other end of blade 108a is a jaw member 50. Holes 60 in jaw member 50are aligned with holes 14 in tongue member 10. Bolt 88 passes through the

holes

60, and 14, respectively, and into tapped holes 135 in insulator 86. Adjacent end 1210 of blade member 1080 is provided an eye hook 136 which is pivotal about a pin 138 disposed in hole 1220. Two

stud members

140 and 142 are disposed in holes 124a so that neck portion 14] of eye hook 136 may not rotate about axle 138 other than through an arc limited by the placement of the studs or stopping

members

140 and 142. Lock member 144 is fastened by a suitable mounting means disposed in the previously described 1 hole 58 of jaw member 50 so thatlock member 144 maybe releasably secured by engagement with horizontal stud member 1 42 when blade 108 has been completely engaged with jaw 50. In this arrangement, blade 1080 may be freed or released by forcing eye hook member 136 upwardly with a hook, stick or some similar means such that neck 141 cams against a portion of lock means 144 to cause stud or horizontal locking member 142 to be freed therefrom. Spring 146 biases lock member 144 in a clockwise direction about the axis of the hole 58.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a. switch assembly 147 is shown. Switch assembly 147 comprises a blade, 10% disposed between a hinge and a jaw member 50. Disposed adjacent a portion of blade 10812 is a flicker or auxiliary blade 150 pivotally secured to blade 10812 in a convenient manner. A portion of flicker blade 150 is disposed in an arc chute 148 when bladel08b has been closed upon jaw 50. Then when blade 108b is disengaged from jaw 50, a sufficient time thereafter, flicker blade 150 will draw an arc in arc chute 148 in a conventional manner on a load circuit. It should be noted that the hook stick switch of FIG. 15 can be converted to an interrupting switch of FIG. 16 by the addition of the arc chute 148 and flicker blade 150 with all other parts remaining the same thereby providing a new flexibility in field application.

It is to be understood that tongue member 10 such as shown in FIG. 1 may be disposed in any of the structures or assemblies previously described in multiple, tandemly mounted fashion so that a larger amount of electrical current may be carried by a plurality of stacked tongue members. In other arrangements, the tongue members may be arranged generally radially in a spoke-like construction from a single insulator so that many electricalcircuits may be interconnected toone portion of a disconnect switch. In other embodiments, stacked or spaced tongue membersmay be provided with spacing washers therebetween such that air or a cooling fluid may circulate between horizontal portions of a stack of tongue members 10. It is also to be understood that any suitable arc resistant contact material may be used for the arcing contacts shown in FIGS. 4

and 5. It is also to be understood that the particular shapes of the arcing contacts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are not limiting and other shapes of convenience may be used where desired. It is also to be understood that the arcing contacts may employ more than two rivet means in a particular application and the rivet means may be disposed in any convenient configuration. It is also understood that conventional arcing contacts may be used with any of the switch assemblies shown in the embodiments of the invention and that novel arcing contacts per se such as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may be used with known types of overall switch assemblies. It is also to be understood that the various switch parts or members such as the contact members, the jaw members, the hinge members and the tongue members, may be used interchangeably in various arid sundry combinations or arrangements to provide a multitude of switch configurations and that one aspect of the invention is the flexibility or versatility of switch constructions from a relatively few types of switch assembly components. It is also to be understood that the types of insulators described may be interchanged with any suitable insulating support means including, but not limited to, procelain insulators. It is also to be understood that the electrically conducting members need not necessarily be hard or cold drawn copper, as previously described, but may be other suitable types of electrically conducting material which can be assembled and formed in the manner previously discussed. Aluminum alloy materials, steel alloy materials and copper alloy materials are suitable in many instances. It is also to be understood that not all of the previously described switch components may be employed simultaneously but that the tongue members, jaw members, hinge members or contact members may be employed in various sub-combinations or with prior art switch parts or members.

The teachings of the present application have many advantages. One advantage is the fact that a switch may be interconnected to any number of electrical busses or cables in an electrical distribution system by merely.

changing the various previously described assembly components in the field. Another advantage lies in the fact that most modifications to switches can be done in the field rather than in the factory or shop. In addition, a switch can easily be converted from a non-fault type switch to a fault type switch by the mere addition of the previously described electrical contact tips on the blades of the switch. Another advantage lies in the fact that expensive alloy copper or age-hardenable copper is not required for all switch blades of the disclosed switch construction since brazing is not required for attaching the arc contacts to the blade of a fault closing type switch. Because brazing or other forms of heating are not required, there is no annealing effect on the blades, and relative inexpensive cold drawn copper blades have therequired strength. Another advantage lies in the fact that if the required current rating or power rating of the switch is increased in a particular application, the switch may be more easily adapted to accommodate the change merely by adding another blade to an easily adaptable hinge assembly and jaw assembly. Another advantage lies in the fact that the switch may be easily converted from a non-interrupting type to an interrupting type. Another advantage lies in the fact that a relatively large multitude of specially designed switch parts members need not be manufactured to meet the wide range of requirements necessary for various types of switches. Another advantage lies in the fact that the amount of brazing, welding, casting or relatively permanent affixing of switch members to each other and to insulators is limited or eliminated by the use of bolts and tapped holes in the various members and insulators. Another advantage lies in the fact that the switch members may be fabricated or formed from sheets of electrically conducting material rather than by forging or molding or casting which are more expensive. Another advantage lies in the fact that should any small portion of the switch member require replacement for some reason the switch may be disassembled on the site and that portion removed and replaced with a similar part or portion rather than requiring the entire switch to be replaced or to be removed to a shop area for repair. Another advantage lies in the fact that the previously mentioned arc contact pieces may be replaced without the need for replacing the entire blade or jaw member upon which it is disposed.

l claim as my invention:

1. An electrical disconnect switch comprising an insulating support member having a fastening surface thereon where an electrically conducting tongueterminal pad member may be secured thereto, said surface having a first set of spaced locations thereon at which said tongue-terminal pad member may be secured to said support member, an electrically conducting tongue-terminal pad member secured to said surface at any of said first set of spaced locations, said tongue-terminal pad member being selectively securable to another support member also having a fastening surface thereon said surface of said another member being characterized as having a set of spaced locations for fastening purposes which differ in spatial orientation relative to each other from said first set of spaced locations, said tongue-terminal pad member being securable on said another support member at said different spaced locations.

2. An electrical disconnect switch comprising:

an insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means;

a blade member;

an electrically conducting tongue-terminal pad member removably secured to said support member, said tongue-terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing fastening means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced opening; a separate electrically conducting hinge member for a switch pole disposed upon the terminal pad portion of said tongue-terminal pad member; and

fastening means which secures said hinge member, said tongue-terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for supporting said switch blade member and providing an electrically conducting path from said blade member to an external electrical circuit through said tongue-terminal pad member.

3. An electrical disconnect switch comprising:

an insulating support member;

a blade member havingf characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means;

an electrically conducting terminal pad member removably secured to said support member said terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced openings;

a separate electrically conducting hinge member for said switch blade member disposed upon said terminal pad member; and

fastening means which secures said hinge member,

said terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for supporting said switch blade member.

4. An electrical disconnect switch of the type comprising:

an insulating support member having characteris' tically spaced openings for receiving fastening means;

a blade member;

an electrically conducting tongue-terminal pad member removably secured to said support member, saidtongue-terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing fastening means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced opening;

a separate electrically conducting jaw member disposed upon the terminal pad portion of said tongue-terminal pad member upon which said blade member may be closed; and

fastening means which secures said jaw member, said tongue-terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for being engaged by said switch blade member and for providing an electrically conducting path from said blade member to an external electrical circuit through said tongue-terminal pad member.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein said jaw member has disposed thereon a separate contact piece comprising a generally tungsten alloy material formed around the head portion thereof.

6. An electrical disconnect switch of the type com prising:

a blade member;

an insulating member having characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means;

an electrically conducting terminal pad member removably secured to said support member, said terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced openings;

a separate electrically conducting jaw member disposed upon said terminal pad member upon which said blade member may be closed; and

fastening means which secures said jaw member, said terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for being engaged by said blade member.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 9 wherein said jaw member has disposed thereon a separate contact piece comprising a generally tugsten-copper alloy material formed around the head portion thereof.

Claims

1. An electrical disconnect switch comprising an insulating support member having a fastening surface thereon where an electrically conducting tongue-terminal pad member may be secured thereto, said surface having a first set of spaced locations thereon at which said tongue-terminal pad member may be secured to said support member, an electrically conducting tongueterminal pad member secured to said surface at any of said first set of spaced locations, said tongue-terminal pad member being selectively securable to another support member also having a fastening surface thereon said surface of said another member being characterized as having a set of spaced locations for fastening purposes which differ in spatial orientation relative to each other from said first set of spaced locations, said tongue-terminal pad member being securable on said another support member at said different spaced locations.

2. An electrical disconnect switch comprising: an insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means; a blade member; an electrically conducting tongue-terminal pad member removably secured to said support member, said tongue-terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing fastening means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced opening; a separate electrically conducting hinge member for a switch pole disposed upon the terminal pad portion of said tongue-terminal pad member; and fastening means which secures said hinge member, said tongue-terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for supporting said switch blade member and providing an electrically conducting path from said blade member to an external electrical circuit through said tongue-terminal pad member.

3. An electrical disconnect switch comprising: an insulating support member; a blade member having characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means; an electrically conducting terminal pad member removably secured to said support member said terminal pad member being characteRized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced openings; a separate electrically conducting hinge member for said switch blade member disposed upon said terminal pad member; and fastening means which secures said hinge member, said terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for supporting said switch blade member.

4. An electrical disconnect switch of the type comprising: an insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means; a blade member; an electrically conducting tongue-terminal pad member removably secured to said support member, said tongue-terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing fastening means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced opening; a separate electrically conducting jaw member disposed upon the terminal pad portion of said tongue-terminal pad member upon which said blade member may be closed; and fastening means which secures said jaw member, said tongue-terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for being engaged by said switch blade member and for providing an electrically conducting path from said blade member to an external electrical circuit through said tongue-terminal pad member.

6. An electrical disconnect switch of the type comprising: a blade member; an insulating member having characteristically spaced openings for receiving fastening means; an electrically conducting terminal pad member removably secured to said support member, said terminal pad member being characterized as being selectively securable to another insulating support member having characteristically spaced openings for securing means which are different in spatial orientation than said latter spaced openings; a separate electrically conducting jaw member disposed upon said terminal pad member upon which said blade member may be closed; and fastening means which secures said jaw member, said terminal pad member and said support member together to form a unitary structure for being engaged by said blade member.