Patent Grant
9012801
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a), this application claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Application No. 10-2011-0011249, filed on Feb. 8, 2011, the contents of which is herein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a vacuum circuit breaker, and particularly, to a flexible shunt for providing a conductive path between a movable electrode side and a main circuit terminal in a vacuum circuit breaker.
2. Background of the Invention
A vacuum circuit breaker is a kind of electric power equipment for opening or closing a conductive path of an ultrahigh voltage to high voltage of a power station or an electric power substation and protecting a circuit and an electric load side devices connected to the circuit by breaking the circuit upon occurrence of a fault current on the circuit.
In general, a vacuum circuit breaker is embedded in a distributing board, which includes an instrument and monitoring device such as a digital relay, and a plurality of circuit breakers, for monitoring states of the electric power and lines.
Since the vacuum circuit breaker is typically used by being embedded in the distributing board, a pull-out type vacuum circuit breaker having a carriage, which is movable for facilitation of installation and maintenance thereof.
The pull-out type vacuum circuit breaker roughly includes, for each of three phases (poles), a circuit breaker main body (abbreviated as main body hereinafter) provided with a contact part called as a vacuum interrupter, a switching mechanism for opening or closing the contact part, and a terminal part electrically connected to the contact part, the main body movable by the carriage having wheels, and a cradle for supporting the main body, the cradle having a first terminal part connected to the terminal part of the main body, and a second terminal part electrically connected to an external electric power circuit, the cradle fixed into a power distributing board.
Hereinafter, description will be given of an outer appearance of the main body of the pull-out type vacuum circuit breaker according to one exemplary embodiment with reference to
As shown in
The main body 100 may be movable to a connected position at which the terminal parts 32a and 40a are connected to the first terminal part of the cradle, a test position at which the terminal parts 32a and 40a are separated from the first terminal part of the cradle due to the main body 100 being drawn out by the carriage but a electric power supply and signal line connection are maintained with respect to a controller (i.e., a controller (no reference numeral given) located at the rear of the front cover 10 of
The present disclosure relates to a flexible conductor, so-called a flexible shunt, which provides a flexible electric connection unit for electrically connecting a movable shaft, which is connected to a movable contact, and a terminal and simultaneously allows for movement of the movable shaft. Hereinafter, description will be given of the corresponding flexible shunt according to the related art with reference to
A main circuit part 30 having the related art flexible shunt includes a vacuum interrupter 33 as a contact part, an upper terminal 32 and a lower terminal 40 electrically connected to a stationary contact 34 and a movable contact 35 of the vacuum interrupter 33, respectively, a movable shaft 35a (so-called movable electrode) 35a, a connection rod 41 and a push rod 42 acting together as a vertical driving unit to vertically drive the movable contact 35 to a connected position where the movable contact 35 contacts the stationary contact 34 or a connected position where the movable contact 35 is separated from the stationary contact 35, a link 44 acting as a driving unit disposed at the main body side of
In the vacuum circuit breaker according to the related art, the flexible shunt 38′, which electrically connects the movable shaft 35a connected to the movable contact 35 to the lower terminal 40, is configured by twisting several strands of copper wires or stacking and pressing several sheets of copper thin plates.
As the vacuum circuit breaker became larger, an amount of current increased, which resulted in an increase in a thickness of the flexible shunt 38′. However, since the flexible shunt 38′ should be moved with the one end being connected to the clamp 36, which moved together with the movable shaft 35a, flexibility was required. Hence, a length of the flexible shunt 38′ increased for ensuring the flexibility.
However, the related art flexible shunt 38′ caused an increase in the size of the vacuum circuit breaker due to the increase in its length, which resulted in an increase in a fabricating cost of the vacuum circuit breaker.
Therefore, to address those problems of the related art, an aspect of the detailed description is to provide a flexible shunt for a vacuum circuit breaker, capable of decreasing a straight length and increasing flexibility with increasing a thickness thereof within a predetermined accommodation space.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of this disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a flexible shunt for a vacuum circuit breaker having a vacuum interrupter, a movable shaft, a heat sink, a clamp to connect the heat sink to the movable shaft, and a terminal connected to a power source side or load side electric circuit, the flexible shunt comprising: a pair of conductive plates, wherein each of the conductive plates comprises:
In an aspect of the detailed description, each of the clamp connecting portion and the terminal side connecting portion may comprise a plurality of coupling hole portions for allowing coupling of fixing members including screws.
In another aspect of the detailed description, the flexible shunt may further comprise a shunt fixing block interposed between the terminal side connecting portion and the terminal to fix the terminal side connecting portion to the terminal, the shunt fixing block being made of a conductive material.
In another aspect of the detailed description, each of the conductive plates may comprise a plurality of electrically conductive thin plates that are stacked and pressed.
Further scope of applicability of the present application will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In the drawings:
Description will now be given in detail of the exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to the drawings, the same or equivalent components will be provided with the same reference numbers, and description thereof will not be repeated.
A vacuum circuit breaker, to which a flexible shunt according to the present disclosure, has been shown in
Hereinafter, description will be given of a configuration of a main circuit part, which is a part more improved than the related art, in a vacuum circuit breaker having a flexible shunt according to the present disclosure, with reference to
As shown in
The flexible shunt 38 according to the present disclosure may comprise a pair of conductive plates 38a and 38b installed to face each other. Each of the conductive plates 38a and 38b may be configured by stacking and pressing a plurality of electrically conductive thin plates.
Each of the conductive plates 38a and 38b constructing the flexible shunt 38 may comprise a clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1, a terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3, and a flexible curved portion 38a2 or 38b2.
The clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1 may be connected to the clamp 36, and configured as a flat conductive member.
The terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 may be connected to a terminal side, namely, the lower terminal 40 and configured as a flat conductive member.
The clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1 and the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 may comprise a plurality of coupling hole portions 38c and 38d, respectively, for allowing coupling of fixing members including screws.
The flexible curved portion 38a2 or 38b2 may be connected between the clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1 and the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3, and configured to be projected outwardly.
The flexible shunt 38 may further comprise a shunt fixing block 39 made of a conductive material and interposed between the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 and the lower terminal 40 to connect the terminal connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 to the lower terminal 40. Accordingly, even if there is a height difference between the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 and the lower terminal 40, the height difference can be overcome by virtue of the shunt fixing block 39, so as to facilitate the flexible shunt 38 and the lower terminal 40 to be electrically and mechanically connected to each other.
Hereinafter, description will be given of an operation of the main circuit part 30 in the vacuum circuit breaker having the flexible shunt 38, with reference to
For driving toward the connected position as shown in
For driving toward the disconnected position as shown in
As the movable shaft 35a is moved up or down upon the switching operation of the vacuum circuit breaker, the clamp 36 connected to the movable shaft 35a is moved up or down, and the clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1 of the flexible shunt 38 connected to the clamp 36 is thusly moved up or down. Here, the flexible shunt 38 according to the present disclosure comprises the pair of conductive plates 38a and 38b. Each of the conductive plates 39a and 38b comprises the flexible curved portion 38a2 or 38b2 at the middle thereof, which provides an increased surface length of the flexible shunt 38 although its straight length is short. Hence, the flexible shunt can maintain flexibility by the long surface length due to the flexible curved portion 38a2 or 38b2 at the middle of the conductive plate 38a or 38b, in spite of an increase in thickness. Consequently, the clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1 connected to the clamp 36 coupled to the movable shaft 35a can be flexibly movable.
With regard to the flexible shunt 38 for the vacuum circuit breaker according to the present disclosure, the clamp connecting portion 38a1 or 38b1 and the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 are provided with the plurality of coupling hole portions 38c and 38d, respectively, for allowing connection of the fixing members including the screws. Therefore, it can be effective to facilitate connection between the clamp 36 and the lower terminal 40.
The flexible shunt 38 for the vacuum circuit breaker according to the present disclosure may further comprise the shunt fixing block 39 made of the conductive material and interposed between the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 and the lower terminal 40. Accordingly, it is possible to overcome the height difference between the terminal side connecting portion 38a3 or 38b3 of the flexible shunt 38 and the lower terminal 40, thereby facilitating the electric connection between the flexible shunt 38 and the lower terminal 40.
With regard to the flexible shunt for the vacuum circuit breaker according to the present disclosure, each conductive plate 38a, 38b constructing the flexible shunt 38 is configured by stacking and pressing a plurality of electrically conductive thin plates. Hence, the flexible shunt 38 can exhibit excellent flexibility as compared to the thickness thereof.
The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments.
As the present features may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120199557 A1 | Aug 2012 | US |
