Patent Application
20210210298
The following description relates to relay contactors and, more particularly, to a relay contactor with combined linear and rotational motion.
The present standard actuator for high amperage relays, or relay contactors, is to have a linearly moveable electrical conductor with contacts that closes and opens the electrical connections. In these cases, an armature shaft of a solenoid motor (i.e., an actuator) is connected to moveable contacts and moves in a straight linear line (straight-in or straight-out) to open or close the electrical contacts in the relay contactor. This configuration results in the electrically conductive contact surfaces of the contacts making (i.e. close) the electrical contact on a closing movement and then breaking (i.e. open) the electrical contact in an opening movement. As such, the electrical contact area that is required for low voltage drop (i.e., high current carrying density) is also the area that sustains arcing during the closings and openings. Therefore, as the electrical contact area degrades (due to arcing wear along other factors) at the material surface, there is an increase in the voltage drop and a corresponding increase in heating effects.
The material properties of the electrical contact surfaces needed for low voltage drop current carrying capability are typically not the same material properties that are needed to be robust against degradation due to electrical arcing.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a relay contactor is provided and includes a shaft assembly comprising a plate, which is movable between an open position at which the plate is displaced from leads and a closed position at which the plate contacts the leads and an actuation system configured to selectively move the plate into the closed position. At least one of the shaft assembly and the actuation system is configured such that, as the plate moves into and away from the closed position, a movement of the plate relative to the leads comprises at least a non-linear, rotational or an abnormally linear component.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the movement of the plate relative to the leads includes a normally linear component and the non-linear or abnormally linear component.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the normally linear component and the non-linear or abnormally linear component are simultaneous, overlapping or sequential.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the non-linear component includes a rotational component.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the shaft assembly is configured to facilitate the movement of the plate and includes at least one of a sloped track, a power screw and an alignment bushing.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the plate and the leads each include one or more contact pads.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, at least one of the contact pads includes electrically conductive materials in a central region thereof and arc-resistant or arc-affecting materials in a perimeter thereof
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, at least one of the plate and the leads further includes insulation surrounding a contact pad to facilitate arc-breaking relative to the contact pad.
According to as aspect of the disclosure, a relay contactor is provided and includes leads including first contact pads, a shaft assembly including a plate and second contact pads disposed on the plate, the plate being movable between an open position at which the second contact pads are displaced from the first contact pads and a closed position at which the second contact pads contact the first contact pads and an actuation system configured to selectively move the plate into the closed position. At least one of the shaft assembly and the actuation system is configured such that, as the plate moves into and away from the closed position, a movement of the plate relative to the leads brings the second contact pads into contact with the first contact pads along a tangential or partially tangential trajectory.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, as the plate moves into and away from the closed position, the plate rotates or slides relative to the leads.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, as the plate moves into and away from the closed position, the plate moves along a linear trajectory and the tangential or partially tangential trajectory simultaneously, in an overlapping manner or in sequence.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the shaft assembly is configured to facilitate the movement of the plate and includes at least one of a sloped track, a power screw and an alignment bushing.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, at least one of the first and second contact pads includes electrically conductive materials in a central region thereof and arc-resistant or arc-affecting materials in a perimeter thereof.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, at least one of the plate and the leads further includes insulation surrounding a contact pad to facilitate arc-breaking relative to the contact pad.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a contact pad is provided and includes a base of electrically conductive material and a contact section affixed to the base. The contact section includes a central portion of electrically conductive material, which is electrically communicative with the base and a perimeter portion of arc-resistant material surrounding the central portion.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the contact pad further includes a plate or lead of a relay contactor to which the base is affixed.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the base and the contact section are annular in shape.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the central and perimeter portions are sloped.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, at least the central portion has a dome or hemispherical shape.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the base includes a copper alloy, the central portion includes a silver alloy and the perimeter portion includes at least one of a tungsten alloy, a nickel alloy and stainless steel.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the disclosure, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
As will be described below, a relay contactor is provided and is moveable with combined linear and rotational or abnormally linear (hereinafter referred to as simply “rotational” for purposes of clarity and brevity) movements for closing or opening an electrical circuit. In some cases, the relay contactor is configured such that the linear and rotational movements are simultaneous and, in other cases, the linear and rotational movements are sequential. In each case, the combined or sequential linear and rotational movements result in electrically conductive contact points being made during closing or broken during opening with a wiping or sliding surface motion so that a main electrical arc wear-out operation can be done without direct degradation of main conductive area low voltage drop materials required for low heat dissipation (low electrical resistance).
With reference to
The primary power distribution box 12 includes a board 24 that is arranged within a housing 22. The board 24 supports plug-in pins 26 that are connected to the power leads 28. Mechanical contactors 30 act as switches to selectively electrically connect the power leads 28 to the supply leads 46. Circuit breakers 48 are supported by the board 24 to selectively disconnect the supply leads 46 from power in response to an overload. The board 24 also supports a connector 32 that communicates with a control 34 through a harness 36. The control 34 provides commands to the board 24 and/or a secondary circuit board 38 and receives feedback regarding various functions related to the aircraft power distribution system 10. The secondary circuit board 38 in this example is mounted on the board 24 and is connected to the connector 32 and contactors 30 through connections 39. The secondary circuit board 38 includes protection circuitry 40 and secondary power distribution circuitry 42. The protection circuitry 40 monitors the current provided by the generator 14, for example, to prevent the secondary power distribution box 16 from exposure to undesired currents. The secondary power distribution circuitry 42 commands the contactors 30 between open and closed positions.
The contactors 30 are illustrated with control traces 50 and power traces 66, some or all of which are supported by or integral with the board 24 in this example (it is to be understood that the contactors 30, control traces 50 and power traces 66 need not be supported by or integral with the board 24 in all cases), and connected to the secondary circuit board 38 and secondary power distribution connectors 44, respectively. The board 24 is relatively thick to accommodate the current flowing through the power traces 66. The contactors 30 are connected to the plug-in pins 26 by first bands 52 and second bands (not shown). The power traces 66 are selectively provided with power when a moveable conductor plate 60 is moved into a closed position connecting first and second contacts. The moveable conductor plate 60 is moved between open and closed positions by a linear motor and shaft assembly to be described below. The linear motor and shaft assembly is mounted to the board 24 and is commanded by the secondary power distribution circuitry 42 through the control traces 50. The current flowing through the power traces 66 is monitored by the protection circuitry 42 through the control traces 50.
With reference to
The input lead 310 includes an electrically conductive body that extends to an exterior of the housing 380 and a first electrical contact 311 at a proximal end of the electrically conductive body within the housing 380. The output lead 320 includes an electrically conductive body that extends to an exterior of the housing 380 and a second electrical contact 321 at a proximal end of the electrically conductive body within the housing 380.
The shaft assembly 330 includes a shaft 331 that can span the housing 380, a plate 332 that is disposed on the shaft 331 and an elastic element 333. The plate 332 includes an electrically conductive body and third and fourth electrical contacts 334 and 335 at opposite ends of the electrically conductive body. The shaft 331 and the plate 332 are movable together along a longitudinal axis of the shaft 331 between an open position and a closed position. At the open position, the third and fourth electrical contacts 334 and 335 of the plate 332 are displaced from electrical contact with the first electrical contact 311 of the input lead 310 and from electrical contact with second electrical contact 321 of the output lead 320, respectively, such that the input lead 310 and the output lead 320 are not electrically communicative with one another (i.e., current from the power leads 28 is not transmitted to the power traces 66). At the closed position, the third and fourth electrical contacts 334 and 335 of the plate 332 are disposed in electrical contact with the first electrical contact 311 of the input lead 310 and in electrical contact with second electrical contact 321 of the output lead 320, respectively, such that the input lead 310 and the output lead 320 are electrically communicative (i.e., current from the power leads 28 is transmitted to the power traces 66). The elastic element 333, which can include or be provided as one or more springs, can be disposed to apply a bias to the shaft 331 and the plate 332 which urges the shaft 331 and the plate 332 toward assumption of the open position.
In accordance with embodiments, the first and second electrical contacts 311 and 321 and the third and fourth electrical contacts 334 and 335 can be hemispherical or otherwise curved, flat-faced or otherwise configured to form reliable electrical contacts.
The first actuator 340 is coupled to the shaft 331 at a first side 3321 of the plate 332. The second actuator 350 is coupled to the shaft 331 at a second side 3322 of the plate 332. The first and second actuators 340 and 350 are configured to be independently or dependently operable so as to selectively move the shaft 331 and the plate 332 into the closed position in opposition to bias applied by the elastic element 333.
In accordance with embodiments, the first actuator 340 may include or be provided as a linear actuator. In this or other cases, the first actuator 340 may include a first armature 341 through which the shaft 331 extends, first coils 342 surrounding the first armature 341 and a first actuator housing 343 that is supportive of the first bearing assembly 360 and configured to house the first armature 341 and the first coils 342. In accordance with similar embodiments, the second actuator 350 may include or be provided as a linear actuator. In this or other cases, the second actuator 350 may include a second armature 351 through which the shaft 331 extends, second coils 352 surrounding the second armature 351 and a second actuator housing 353 that is supportive of the second bearing assembly 370 and configured to house the second armature 351 and the second coils 352.
With the first and second actuators 340 and 350 configured as described above, the first bearing assembly 360 is disposed to movably support the shaft 331 at the first side 3321 of the plate 332 and the second bearing assembly 370 is disposed to movably support the 331 shaft at the second side 3322 of the plate 332. The first bearing assembly 360 can include bearing elements that are secured in the first actuator housing 343 to permit movements of the shaft 331 along the longitudinal axis of the shaft 331 and the second bearing assembly can include bearing elements that are secured in the second actuator housing 353 to permit the movement of the shaft along the longitudinal axis of the shaft 331.
As shown in
During an operation of the relay contactor 301, the first and second coils 342 and 352 of the first and second actuators 340 and 350 can be independently or dependently energized to thus generate magnetic flux which brings the shaft 331 and the plate 332 into the closed position in opposition to the bias applied by the elastic element 333. To this end, the first and second coils 342 and 352 can be disposed in parallel or in series within an energization circuit and the elastic element 333 can be optimized for use with the various components of the first and second actuators 340 and 350.
Although
With reference to
In accordance with embodiments, at least one of the shaft assembly 420 and the actuation system 430 is configured such that, as the plate 422 and the second contact pads 423 move into and away from the closed position, a movement of the plate 422 relative to the leads 410 includes at least a non-linear component, such as a rotation, or an abnormally linear component, such as a linear movement that is not angled normally with respect to the leads 410. For example, the shaft assembly 420 can facilitate the movement of the plate 422 and can include at least one of a sloped track, a power screw and an alignment bushing 424 for a rotational movement. In some cases, the movement of the plate 422 relative to the leads 410 brings the second contact pads 423 into contact with the first contact pads 413 along a tangential or partially tangential trajectory.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The combinational motion of at least
It is to be understood that the embodiments of
In each case described herein and others, where the leads 410 include the first contact pads 413 and the plate 422 includes the second contact pads 423, the final movement of the plate 422 relative to the leads 410 during a closing operation and the first movement of the plate 422 relative to the leads 410 during an opening operation brings the second contact pads 423 into contact with the first contact pads 413 along the tangential or partially tangential trajectory where the tangential or partially trajectory is defined with respect to the curvatures of the first contact pads 413 and the second contact pads 423. This tangential or partially trajectory results in arcing which is mostly incident on side surfaces (edges) 4131 and 4231 (see
That is, during a closing operation, as the second contact pads 423 come into electrical contact with the first contact pads 413, an arc that is generated will initially be incident on the side surfaces 4131 and 4231. This condition will persist during the closing operation whereby the arcing might only be incident for a short time on the centralized contact surfaces 4132 and 4232 at the last moment of the closing operation prior to final contact (i.e., during closing operation, time of arcing on side surfaces 4131 and 4231 is much greater than the time of arcing on centralized contact surfaces 4132 and 4232). By contrast, during an opening operation, as the second contact pads 423 recede from electrical contact with the first contact pads 413, an arc that is generated will only be incident for a short time on the centralized contact surfaces 4132 and 4232 at the initial instant of recession whereupon the arc will subsequently become incident on the side surfaces 4131 and 4231. This condition will then persist during the rest of the opening operation (i.e., during opening operation, time of arcing on centralized contact surfaces 4132 and 4232 is much less than the time of arcing on side surfaces 4131 and 4231).
As a result, for the relay contactor 401 of
With reference to
In accordance with embodiments, the first or second contact pads 413 or 423 can include electrically conductive materials in a central region thereof and arc-resistant or arc-affecting materials in a perimeter thereof That is, the base 810 can include a copper alloy, the central portion 821 can include a silver alloy and the perimeter portion 822 can include at least one of a tungsten alloy, a nickel alloy or stainless steel.
With reference to
Technical effects and benefits of the features described herein are the provision of a relay contactor in which combined linear and rotational movements result in electrically conductive contact areas having a sliding surface motion on the electrical close operation to facilitate the high conductivity of the electrical contact surfaces. On opening (or releasing), the combined linear and rotation movement means the start of the opening gap will cause an arc to start at the edges of main contact areas and move toward edges thereof. Arc extinguishing or suppression can be facilitated by material(s) on the edge (perimeter) of the contact pads. Once again, the simultaneous and combined or the sequential linear and rotational movements protect highly conductive electrical contacts and forces arcing toward areas that are not required to be highly conductive for low voltage drops so that the electrical life is optimized and voltage drop heating is minimized. Thus, highly conductive electrical contact areas where high currents are conducted and edges where the arcing migrates toward can have materials selected and optimized for design life and performance based on where they are physically in the system.
While the disclosure is provided in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that the exemplary embodiment(s) may include only some of the described exemplary aspects. Accordingly, the disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
