The present invention relates to a gas circuit breaker that is used to pass an operating current and break an overcurrent in a power plant, a substation, and the like.
As a conventional gas circuit breaker, there is a gas circuit breaker disclosed in Patent Literature 1, for example. As shown in
Furthermore, in a case of a gas circuit breaker shown in
In the hot gas flow as described above, particularly, high-temperature and high-speed hot gas flowing into the heating chamber from the spray slit travels in a straight line in a radial direction and collides with the wall, and then disperses in the heating chamber.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-329191 (
As described above, in the case of the conventional gas circuit breakers, current breaking is repeatedly performed, so that constituent components of the gas circuit breakers are damaged. Particularly, high-temperature and high-speed hot gas flowing into the heating chamber from the spray slit collides with the wall, and the part where this hot gas has collided is severely damaged. Therefore, there is a problem that the deterioration of the insulating material of the wall makes it difficult to maintain the performance of the gas circuit breaker.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas circuit breaker that is capable of protecting an outer peripheral wall surrounding a heating chamber from damage and heat deterioration due to the influence of hot gas.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, a gas circuit breaker according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to includes: a fixed-side energizing member; a movable-side energizing member that is arranged to be opposed to the fixed-side energizing member in an opening-and-closing axis direction; a first fixed contact that is connected to the fixed-side energizing member; a second fixed contact that is connected to the movable-side energizing member, and is arranged to be opposed to the first fixed contact in the opening-and-closing axis direction; a movable contact that is capable of switching between a power-on position and a breaking position by being driven back and forth in the opening-and-closing axis direction, bridges between the first fixed contact and the second fixed contact at the power-on position, and is brought into non-contact with the first and second fixed contacts at the breaking position to form an arc chamber between the first and second fixed contacts; and a cylindrical outer peripheral wall that is connected to the fixed-side energizing member and the movable-side energizing member, and that surrounds a heating chamber that communicates with the arc chamber through an opening that separates the first and second fixed contacts from each other in a circumferential direction, wherein the outer peripheral wall includes a heat-resistive cylindrical first wall portion that is arranged at a position opposed to the opening in a radial direction, and a cylindrical second wall portion that is connected to the first wall portion and also connected to at least one of the fixed-side energizing member and the movable-side energizing member, and is made of an insulating material.
According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a gas circuit breaker that is capable of protecting an outer peripheral wall surrounding a heating chamber from damage and heat deterioration due to the influence of hot gas.
Exemplary embodiments of a gas circuit breaker according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
As shown in
The fixed-side energizing member 1a is arranged to be opposed to the movable-side energizing member 1b in the direction of the center axis 25. In the examples shown in
The fixed-side energizing member 1a is configured by, for example, an annular conductor 2a and an annular supporting conductor 3 that is arranged inside of the conductor 2a and connected to an opening end of the conductor 2a. The supporting conductor 3 is energized and connected to the conductor 2a to be capable of releasing the connection to the right side (the opposite side to the movable side). The fixed contact 4a (first fixed contact) is energized and connected to a movable-side end of the supporting conductor 3. The fixed contact 4a is configured to include a plurality of elastic contact fingers. These contact fingers are arranged in a circumferential direction about the center axis 25, separated from each other by slits (not shown), and extend obliquely from the connection point with the supporting conductor 3 toward the center axis 25 and toward the movable side.
The movable-side energizing member 1b is configured by an annular conductor 2b, for example. The fixed contact 4b (second fixed contact) is energized and connected to an opening end of the conductor 2b. Similarly to the fixed contact 4a, the fixed contact 4b is configured to include plural elastic contact fingers. These contact fingers are arranged in the circumferential direction about the center axis 25, separated from each other by slits (not shown), and extend obliquely from the connection point with the conductor 2b toward the center axis 25 and toward the fixed side. The fixed contact 4a and the fixed contact 4b are arranged to be opposed to each other in the direction of the center axis 25.
At the power-on position (
At the current breaking position (
Furthermore, in the middle of the current breaking operation, when the movable contact 5 is positioned between the fixed contacts 4a and 4b, the arc chamber 6 is formed between the fixed contact 4a and the movable contact 5. In the arc chamber 6, arc is generated between the movable contact 5 and the fixed contacts 4a and 4b at the time of switching on and off a current.
The arc chamber 6 is surrounded by an annular heating chamber 7. The heating chamber 7 communicates with the arc chamber 6 through an opening 8 that separates the fixed contacts 4a and 4b from each other in the circumferential direction. The opening 8 communicates the arc chamber 6 and the heating chamber 7 with each other on a circumferential plane about the center axis 25. The heating chamber 7 is surrounded by the outer peripheral wall 15 having a cylindrical shape. That is, the outer peripheral wall 15 surrounds the heating chamber 7 in the circumferential direction about the center axis 25. The outer peripheral wall 15 is configured by a heat-resistive cylindrical heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 (first wall portion), and a cylindrical wall portion 10 (second wall portion) that is connected to the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 and is made of an insulating material.
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 is arranged at a position opposed to the opening 8 in a radial direction. The radial direction refers to a direction orthogonal to the direction of the center axis 25. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 is provided to protect the outer peripheral wall 15 from damage due to hot gas generated with the occurrence of arc, and therefore is arranged at a position opposed to the opening 8, which is the location where hot gas, having flown out of the arc chamber 6 in the radial direction, collides directly. In
In the examples shown in
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 can be formed of a heat-resistive conductive material, for example. In this case, examples of the conductive material include a metal material such as aluminum. It is also possible to use a high-melting-point material such as ceramics.
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 is arranged on the movable side for example, and is electrically connected at its one end to the conductor 2b. Therefore, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 is electrically connected to the movable-side energizing member 1b and the fixed contact 4b.
The wall portion 10 is arranged on the fixed side (the opposite side to the movable side) for example, and is connected at its one end to the supporting conductor 3. The other end of the wall portion 10 is connected to the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9. Both the center axis of the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 and the center axis of the wall portion 10 coincide with the center axis 25. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 and the wall portion 10 are connected in the direction of the center axis 25 to constitute the outer peripheral wall 15. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 and the wall portion 10 are connected with a bolt or the like. As described above, the fixed-side energizing member la and the movable-side energizing member 1b are physically connected by the outer peripheral wall 15. However, the outer peripheral wall 15 includes the wall portion 10 that is provided along the circumferential direction and is made of an insulating material, and therefore the outer peripheral wall 15 electrically insulates the fixed-side energizing member 1a and the movable-side energizing member 1b from each other. In the examples shown in
As described above, in the present embodiment, the wall portion 10 made of an insulating material is provided to be connected to the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9, and the outer peripheral wall 15 constituted by the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 and the wall portion 10 closes off the outer side of the heating chamber 7.
In the fixed contact 4a, on the side of the heating chamber 7, the guide 11a is arranged along the fixed contact 4a. In the fixed contact 4b, on the side of the heating chamber 7, the guide 11b is arranged along the fixed contact 4b. The space of the heating chamber 7 is defined by the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9, the wall portion 10, and the guides 11a and 11b.
Furthermore, on the right side (the fixed side) of the arc chamber 6, a pressure chamber 12 is formed by the fixed contact 4a and the supporting conductor 3. The pressure chamber 12 is formed with an outlet port 13 constituted by an opening formed on the supporting conductor 3.
The current breaking operation is performed as follows. First, the breaking operation begins from the power-on position in
Hot gas having collided with the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 changes its flowing direction, and a part of the hot gas flows toward the wall portion 10. In this case, while the temperature and flow speed of the hot gas are reduced, the hot gas flows along the wall portion 10. Therefore, the wall portion 10 is not heated at a specific point, and accordingly does not reach a high temperature. Consequently, the wall portion 10 can be prevented from being damaged by hot gas.
Arc is then quenched when a current passes through next zero point. This arc quenching is carried out by blowing off the arc by a part of the gas, which flows out of the heating chamber 7 via the opening 8 into the pressure chamber 12 and to the side of the movable contact 5.
As explained above, according to the present embodiment, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 9 is provided at a position opposed to the opening 8 in the radial direction. Therefore, it is made possible to protect the outer peripheral wall 15 surrounding the heating chamber 7 from damage and heat deterioration due to the influence of hot gas at the time of current breaking. Particularly, the wall portion 10 made of an insulating material can be protected from damage due to hot gas, thereby making it possible to configure the outer peripheral wall 15 to serve as a container of the heating chamber 7 while maintaining the insulating performance of the outer peripheral wall 15.
As shown in
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is arranged at a position opposed to the opening 8 in the radial direction. Similarly to the first embodiment, it is preferable that the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 has at least a length equal to or larger than L in the direction of the center axis 25, and is arranged so as to cover the opening 8 in the direction of the center axis 25. Because the opening 8 is provided in the circumferential direction, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is arranged so as to cover the opening 8 in the circumferential direction. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is required to have at least a heat resistance higher than those of the wall portions 10a and 10b.
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is arranged between the wall portions 10a and 10b, and is connected to the wall portions 10a and 10b in the direction of the center axis 25. Both the center axis of the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 and the center axis of the wall portions 10a and 10b coincide with the center axis 25. One fixed-side end of the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is connected to one end of the wall portion 10a. One movable-side end of the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is connected to one end of the wall portion 10b. Furthermore, the other end of the wall portion 10a is connected to the supporting conductor 3, and the other end of the wall portion 10b is connected to the conductor 2b. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 and the wall portions 10a and 10b are connected with a bolt or the like. As described above, the fixed-side energizing member 1a and the movable-side energizing member 1b are physically connected to each other by the outer peripheral wall 15. However, the outer peripheral wall 15 includes the wall portions 10a and 10b that are provided along the circumferential direction and made of an insulating material, and therefore the outer peripheral wall 15 electrically insulates the fixed-side energizing member 1a and the movable-side energizing member 1b from each other.
Other configurations of the present embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment. For example, as explained in the first embodiment, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 can be formed of a heat-resistive conductive material. In this case, examples of the conductive material include a metal material such as aluminum. It is also possible to use a high-melting-point material such as ceramics.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is connected between the wall portions 10a and 10b made of an insulating material to constitute the outer peripheral wall 15, and the heat-flow receiving wall portion 29 is arranged at a position opposed to the opening 8. With this arrangement configuration, the present embodiment can exhibit functions and effects that are identical to those of the first embodiment.
In
As shown in
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 (first wall portion) is arranged at a position opposed to the opening 8 in the radial direction. Similarly to the first and second embodiments, it is preferable that the heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 has at least a length equal to or larger than L in the direction of the center axis 25, and is arranged so as to cover the opening 8 in the same direction. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 is arranged so as to cover the opening 8 in the circumferential direction. The heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 is required to have at least a heat resistance higher than that of the wall portion 10.
The heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 is arranged inside of the wall portion 10 coaxially with the wall portion 10. Both the center axis of the heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 and the center axis of the wall portion 10 coincide with the center axis 25. One movable-side end of the heat-flow receiving wall potion 19 is connected to the conductor 2b. The wall portion 10 surrounds the heating chamber 7 while insulating the fixed-side energizing member 1a and the movable-side energizing member 1b from each other. In contrast, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 is connected at its one end to the movable-side energizing member 1b for example, but is not connected to the fixed-side energizing member 1a at the other end. That is, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 is connected to either one of the movable-side energizing member 1b and the fixed-side energizing member 1a.
Other configurations of the present embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment. For example, as explained in the first embodiment, the heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 can be formed of a heat-resistive conductive material. In this case, examples of the conductive material include a metal material such as aluminum. It is also possible to use a high-melting-point material such as ceramics.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the entirety of the outer peripheral wall 15 surrounding the heating chamber 7 is configured by the wall portion 10 that is made of an insulating material, and also the heat-flow receiving wall portion 19 is arranged on a part of the surface of the wall portion 10 on the side of the heating chamber 7 to be opposed to the opening 8 in the radial direction. With this arrangement configuration, the present embodiment can exhibit functions and effects that are identical to those of the first embodiment.
As described above, in the first to third embodiments, the outer peripheral wall 15 is configured to include a heat-resistive cylindrical first wall portion that is arranged at a position opposed to the opening 8 in a radial direction, and a cylindrical second wall portion that is connected to the first wall portion and also connected to at least one of the fixed-side energizing member 1a and the movable-side energizing member 1b, and is made of an insulating material. With this configuration, it is possible to provide a gas circuit breaker that is capable of protecting the outer peripheral wall 15 surrounding the heating chamber 7 from damage and heat deterioration due to the influence of hot gas.
The present invention is useful as a gas circuit breaker.
1
a fixed-side energizing member
1
b movable-side energizing member
2
a, 2b conductor
3 supporting conductor
4
a, 4b fixed contact
5 movable contact
7 heating chamber
8 opening
9, 19, 29 heat-flow receiving wall portion
10, 10a, 10b wall portion
11
a,
11
b guide
12 pressure chamber
13 outlet port
25 center axis
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2011/074067 | 10/19/2011 | WO | 00 | 2/12/2014 |