Patent Application
20160133405
The present invention relates to a sealed relay to move a movable member with an operating mechanism and thereby set a movable side contact (contact point) in contact with a fixed side contact to make connection with an external circuit, such as a vacuum relay or a gas enclosed relay containing insulating gas such as SF (sulfur hexafluoride) gas or dry air.
Patent Document 1: JP2006-172847A
As mentioned before, the vacuum switch 101 is arranged to connect the upper conductor 106 and lower conductor 107 electrically with each other by bringing the movable side contact 104 into contact with the fixed side contact 103 with operating mechanism 105, and to disconnect the upper conductor 106 and lower conductor 107 electrically from each other by moving the movable side contact away from fixed side contact 103 with operating mechanism 105. The thus-constructed vacuum switch 101 is simply designed to make and break the connection between the upper and lower conductors 106 and 107, and not designed to change over the circuit connection.
According to the present invention, an apparatus is arranged to change over the circuit connection as well as to make and break the connection between the upper and lower conductors.
According to the present invention as defined in claim 1, a sealed relay comprises: an insulating tube; a first relay connect portion attached or fixed to an opening portion in one end of the insulating tube, and provided with a first contact on an inside surface of the first relay connect portion; a second relay connect portion disposed with a predetermined spacing from the first relay connect portion; a movable member disposed movably between the first and second relay connect portions, and provided with a second contact contacting with the first contact when the movable member is moved toward the first relay connect portion; an operating mechanism to move the movable member in a direction for contact and separation between the contacts; and a bellows to seal an inside of the insulating tube airtightly;
the sealed relay is arranged to set the first contact and the second contact in contact with each other by moving the movable member with the operating mechanism and thereby to connect the first and second relay connect portions electrically through the movable member and the bellows;
the sealed relay further includes a third relay connect portion including a third contact and being provided between the second relay connect portion and the first relay connect portion; and the movable member is provided with a fourth contact contacting with the third contact when the first contact and the second contact are set out of contact from each other.
According to the present invention as defined in claim 2, in the sealed relay as claimed in claim 1, the third and fourth contacts are ring-shaped or annular contacts having substantially equal diameters.
According to the present invention as defined in claim 3, in the sealed relay as claimed in claim 2, the first and second contacts are ring-shaped or annular contacts having diameters substantially equal to the diameters of the third and fourth contacts.
According to the present invention as defined in claim 4, in the sealed relay as claimed in one of claims 1˜3, the bellows includes an inner circumferential bellows and an outer circumferential bellows arranged in a double structure, the inner circumferential bellows is configured to have a property for vacuum sealing, and the outer circumferential bellows is configured to have a property for electric conduction.
(1) According to the present invention as defined in claim 1, when the movable member is moved to bring the first contact and the second contact into the non-contact state, the fourth contact provided in the movable member is brought into contact with the third contact provided in the third relay connect portion, and the second relay connect portion and the third relay connect portion are connected. Thus, the sealed relay can change over the connection of the circuit.
(2) According to the present invention as defined in claim 2, the third and fourth contacts are ring-shaped or annular. Therefore, it is possible to increase the area of contact between both contacts to the advantage of RF (high frequency current) electric conduction. Furthermore, the ring-shaped third and fourth contacts facilitate the alignment of these contacts. Furthermore, it is possible to fix the third contact or/and the fourth contact readily by forming ring-shaped or annular groove(s) conforming to the third or fourth contact, in the movable member or the third relay connect portion, and fitting the ring-shaped contact in the corresponding groove.
(3) According to the present invention as defined in claim 3, since the first and second contacts are ring-shaped or annular contacts having diameters substantially equal to the diameters of the third and fourth contact, it is possible to facilitate the circuit design as compared to the design in which the first and second contacts are shaped differently from the third and fourth contacts. (The difference in the contact shape results in the difference in capacitance and causes a difference in circuit constant between the section of the first and second contacts and the section of the third and fourth contacts in the circuit. Therefore, a circuit adjustment is required to make these even.) Furthermore, the first through fourth contacts having the same shape make it possible to reduce the number of constituent parts (the number of the kinds of the parts).
(4) According to the present invention as defined in claim 4, the outer circumferential bellows is so made to have an ability to conduct or electric conductivity, and arranged to connect the movable member and the second relay connect portion electrically. Therefore, the sealed relay is adequate for conducting the great RF (high frequency) current. Furthermore, as compared to the example using multi contacts or flat knitting line, it is possible to reduce the size of the operating mechanism, to simplify the construction and reduce the operating force. Furthermore, since the bellows for electric conduction is used for electric connection, it is not necessary to use a conductive material such as copper alloy, as the material of the movable rod.
An embodiment of the present invention is explained with reference to
A third relay connect portion 10 including a third contact 9 is disposed between the first relay connect portion 4 and second relay connect portion 5. On the other hand, the movable member 7 is provided with a fourth contact 11. As shown in the left half of
A bellows 12 which is a device capable of expansion and contraction is interposed between movable member 7 and second relay connect portion 5. The bellows 12 has a double structure including an inner circumferential bellows 12a on an inner circumferential side and an outer circumferential bellows 12b on an outer circumferential side surrounding the inner circumferential bellows. The vacuum in the inside of insulating tube 2 is kept exclusively by inner circumferential bellows 12a. The movable member 7 and second relay control portion 5 are connected electrically exclusively by the outer circumferential bellows 12b. (Hereinafter, inner circumferential bellows 12a is referred to as sealing bellows, and outer circumferential bellows 12b is referred to as conducting bellows.)
Following is detailed explanation on insulating tube 2, first relay connect portion 4, second relay connect portion 5, third relay connect portion 10, bellows 12, etc.
Insulating tube 2 is made up of first, second and third tube sections 2a-2c, and is made of ceramics. Among these three tube sections 2a-2c, it is optional to omit the third tube section 2c. In this case, later-mentioned operating mechanism receiving section 14 and connecting member 15 are made of insulating material such as ceramics.
First relay connect portion 4 is shaped like a circular disk and fixed to the upper end of first tube section 2a to close and seal the opening. The first contact 3 is provided or attached in a center portion of the lower surface of first relay connect portion 4.
Second relay connect portion 5 includes a shaft receiving hole 5a formed in a center portion of second relay connect portion 5, and arranged to receive a shaft portion 7b of movable member 7 as explained next. Second relay connect portion 5 is clamped and fixed between the second tube section 2b and third tube section 2c.
Movable member 7 includes a flange portion 7a and a shaft portion 7b. The flange portion 7a is shaped like a circular disk and provided with the second contact 6 in a central portion of the upper surface of flange portion 7a. The shaft portion 7b is provided in a central portion of the lower surface of flange portion 7a and has a diameter smaller than that of flange portion 7a.
The second contract 6 is provided in the central portion of the upper surface of flange portion 7a. The ring-shaped or annular fourth contact 11 is provided in a peripheral portion of the lower surface of flange portion 7a, at a position confronting the third contact 9. Flange portion 7a is made of conductive material, such as copper alloy, having a good conductivity.
The shaft portion 7b extends through the shaft receiving hole 5a of second relay connect portion 5, and projects downwards below the second relay connect portion 5. The forward end of shaft portion 7b is connected through an insulating rod 13 with the operating mechanism 8. Shaft portion 7b is made of material such as stainless steel.
The operating mechanism 8 employs an air cylinder. Operating mechanism 8 is received in the operating mechanism receiving portion 14. An upper end of operating mechanism receiving portion 14 is connected through the connecting member 15 with the lower end of third tube section 2c.
Third relay connect portion 10 includes a ring-shaped or annular main body 10a and a lead portion connected continuously with the ring-shaped main body 10a. The ring-shaped main body 10a includes an outer circumferential portion clamped between the first tube section 2a and second tube section 2b and an inner circumferential portion projects inwards in the insulating tube 2. The ring-shaped or annular third contact 9 is fixed to the upper surface of the inner circumferential portion of ring-shaped main body 10a, at a position confronting the fourth contact 11.
The bellows 12 is constructed as follows. As mentioned before, bellows 12 has the double structure , and includes the sealing bellows 12a on the inner circumferential side and the conducting bellows 12b on the outer circumferential side.
The sealing bellows 12a for sealing is disposed around the shaft portion 7b of movable member 7 and surrounds the shaft portion 7b. One end of sealing bellows 12a is attached to second relay connect portion 5. The other end of sealing bellows 12a is attached to the flange portion 7a of movable member 7. Sealing bellows 12a is constructed to have an ability of sealing to prevent outside air from entering the inside of insulating tube 2 through the shaft receiving hole 5a. Sealing bellows 12a is made of material having airtightness, adequate for airtight sealing.
The conducting bellows 12b for electric conduction on the outer circumferential side is disposed around the sealing bellows 12a. Like the sealing bellows 12a, the conducting bellows 12b has one end attached to second relay connect portion 5, and other end attached to the flange portion 7a. Conducting bellows 12b electrically connects the movable member 7 and second relay connect portion 5 with each other. Conducting bellows 12b is made of conductive material.
The above-mentioned vacuum relay 1 provides operations and effects as follows. When the first contact 3 and second contact 6 are set in contact with each other, as shown in the left half of
When the movable member 7 is moved toward operating mechanism 8 by operating mechanism 8 from the state shown in the left half of
In this embodiment, the third contact 9 and fourth contact 11 are ring-shaped or annular whereas the first contact 3 and second contact 6 are in the form of small projections of a circular shape located on thea center line CL of insulating tube 2. However, the first contact and 3 and second contact 6 may be ring-shaped or annular like the third contact 9 and fourth contact 11. The construction employing the first contact 3 and second contact 6 shaped in the same shape as the third contact 9 and fourth contact 11 makes it possible to reduce the number of parts (the kinds of parts), to reduce the difference in the characteristics in the changeover operation of this relay and to facilitate the circuit design in using this relay.
Since the conducting bellows 12b of this embodiment is used as electric path, the conducting bellows 12b is made of material such as copper alloy, having superior conductivity. On the other hand, the sealing bellows 12a and shaft portion 7b may be made of material such as stainless steel. In the case of the construction in which the flange portion 7a of movable member is small and the bellows is attached directly to the shaft portion 7b, it is desirable to use material superior in conductively as the material of shaft portion 7b. Furthermore, it is possible to employ a single bellows for both the air-tight sealing and the electric conduction.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-119364 | Jun 2013 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/064104 | 5/28/2014 | WO | 00 |
