This patent is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/044,010 filed Mar. 7, 2008 entitled Wear Indicator for a Circuit Interrupter Exhaust Control Device, which patent claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/894,031, filed Mar. 9, 2007, the disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein for all purposes.
This patent relates to circuit interrupting devices, and in particular, this patent relates to a wear indicator for an exhaust gas silencer associated with a circuit interrupting device.
Certain types of circuit-interrupting devices, such as fuses, discharge hot arc products and gases during fault isolation. The exhaust gases are not typically discharged from the device directly into the atmosphere, but they are instead guided through an exhaust control device. The exhaust control device may include heat absorbing and arc suppressing material to reduce the temperature and energy of the discharged arc products and may further provide sound suppression.
Exhaust control devices are capable of both reducing the sound level and the gas discharge without significantly interfering with the intended circuit-interrupting function of the fuse or device. Further, these devices, unlike non-vented devices, do not create unsuitably high back pressures to the circuit-interrupting device which might cause undesirable effects, including higher pressures and operating temperatures, longer arcing time, and higher operating energies that must be dissipated. It is also desirable that the exhaust control device be as small and light-weight as possible, while retaining efficiency of operation and being capable of functioning repeatedly without loss of effectiveness. An exemplary exhaust control device is disclosed and described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,519, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
While designed for repeated use, an exhaust control device has a finite useful life after which it must be replaced. Use of an exhaust control device after it has reached its useful life may result in the dangerous discharge of hot arc products and gases. However, it can be difficult to know whether the device has reached the end of its useful life. A manufacturer may specify criteria that define a condition or conditions of one or more components of the device indicative of the end of its useful life. For example, should a baffle of the device be ruptured or eroded beyond a specified condition the exhaust control device is deemed to be beyond its useful life. However, it may be difficult to determine the condition of the one or more component, and moreover, determining the condition requires periodic inspection by trained personnel.
A wear indicator for an exhaust control device is mountable to the exhaust control device. The wear indicator has at least one structural feature that changes from a first observable state corresponding to the exhaust control device having remaining useful life to a second observable state corresponding to the exhaust control device having reached the end of its useful life and needing replacement. The wear indicator may be a ring, a bridge, one or more pins, a multi-layer structure, a string of beads or other suitable structural member secured to or formed with a baffle of the exhaust control device. The wear indicator is exposed to the flow of exhaust gases through the exhaust control device during operation of the exhaust control device with this exposure causing the change from the first state to the second state.
Referring to
The exhaust control device 10 may include a housing 12. The housing 12 includes an end wall 14 that defines an intake port 16. The exhaust-control device 10 may include a plurality of sections or layers of heat-absorbing medium or materials. Two sections, a first section 18 and a second section 20, are illustrated. The sections 18 and 20 can also be referred to as heat sinks. Hot exhaust gases entering the intake port 16 pass through the first section 18 and thereafter pass through the second section 20. The temperature of the exhaust gases is reduced by passage through the first section 18 and is further reduced by passage through the second section 20. Selection of the material and configuration of the selected materials to provide the layers of heat-absorbing medium is not within the scope of the instant invention, and any suitable materials having any suitable configuration may be used.
The end wall 14 includes provisions, e.g., threads 26, for engagement with threads 28 of a locking collar 30 which is affixed to a circuit interrupter, such as a fuse 32. When the fuse 32 operates, energy is produced in the form of heat, light, and sound with hot exhaust gases (i.e., arc products) being expelled through a hollow exhaust extension 31 of the fuse 32. The quantity of energy produced by the operation of the fuse 32 varies with the circuit voltage, the magnitude of current being interrupted, and the point of the alternating-current wave at which the fault is initiated; e.g., overcurrent resulting from a fault condition. If the fuse 32 utilizes a fusible metallic element, arcing rod, etc., the exhaust gases will contain metallic vapors.
The hot exhaust gases exiting the exhaust extension 30 and passing through the intake port 16 are initially received in a gas expansion chamber 34. The arc produced during the operation of the fuse 32 may be blown into the exhaust-control device 10 by the inrush of exhaust gases, and this arc tends to settle on a conductive arcing tip 36 that is provided for this purpose and disposed within the gas expansion chamber 34 and along the center of the exhaust-control device 10. The exhaust gases then pass through the openings 38 of an upper baffle plate 40 and into the first section 18 of heat-absorbing material. The heat-absorbing material 22 absorbs substantial energy from the exhaust gases, resulting in a substantial drop in the temperature of the exhaust gases exiting the first section 18 and passing into the second section 20. The exhaust gases leave the first section 18 and enter the second section 20 encountering another heat-absorbing medium, e.g., woven copper mesh 24. The exhaust gases then pass through the second section 20 being further cooled.
The exhaust gases, after passing through the second section 20, pass through holes 44 of a diverter plate 46. After passing through the diverter plate 46, the exhaust gases enter a middle chamber 48. The middle chamber 48 is defined by the housing 12, the diverter plate 46, a spacer 50, and a middle baffle plate 52. The exhaust gases pass through the middle chamber 48 through the holes 54 of a middle baffle plate 52 and into a lower chamber 58. The lower chamber 58 is defined by the middle baffle plate 52, a screen member 60, and the housing 12. The screen member 60 may include a bottom wall 62, a circumferential side wall 64, and a rim 66. The rim 66 is positioned against the middle baffle plate 52 and the bottom wall 62 is positioned against a lower baffle assembly 68. A volume 70, between the screen member 60 and a sleeve 72 adjacent the housing 12, may include a heat-absorbent material. A lower baffle assembly 68 may include a front baffle member 77 with slots 76 and a baffle member 78 with holes 80. The exhaust gases passing through the lower chamber 58 pass through volume 70 and then through the front baffle 77 and the holes 80 of the baffle member 78. The holes 80 function as exhaust ports. The exhaust gases then pass out to the environment of the exhaust-control device 10 and the fuse 32.
As illustrated in
The wear indicator 90 is designed to be fitted to existing baffles, such as the baffle 40, without modification of the baffle 40. In alternate embodiments of the invention, however, modification of the baffle 40 accommodates incorporation or integration of the wear indicator 90 (e.g., the embodiment illustrated in
Referring to
To position and secure the wear indicator 90 relative to the baffle 40, a strap member 94 may be formed with the ring member 92. The strap member 94 includes a hub portion 96 formed with an aperture 98. The aperture 98 is received over a stud 82 that includes a threaded end 84 that threads into a threaded passage 86 of the arcing tip 36 holding the wear indicator 90 in place relative to the baffle 40. The wear indicator 90 may further and optionally be formed with ear portions 100 formed with dimples 102. The ear portions formed with dimples 102 allow the wear indicator 90 to be positioned relative to the baffle 40 with engagement of the dimples with the apertures 38 preventing rotation of the wear indicator 90 upon tightening of the arcing tip.
The wear indicator 90 may be formed from metal, and for example, the same metal used to form the baffle 40. Additionally, the wear indicator 90 may be painted or otherwise coated to distinguish it from the baffle 40. While the paint or coating may not survive the initial few operations of the exhaust control device, the coating does provide at least initially a very easily observable indication of the useful life of the exhaust control device.
As noted, the baffle 40 may be a multi-layer structure. In this regard, a wear indicator may be provided integrally formed with the baffle 40 by painting or coating alternate layers of the multiple layers forming the baffle 40 in different colors. For example, the outer most layer may be coated in a green color, a middle layer in a yellow color and a bottom or last layer of wear before failure, in a red color. Observation of the color of the wear indicator provides a visual indication that the exhaust control device 10 has remaining useful life.
The invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention may be otherwise embodied without departing from its fair scope, which is set forth in the subjoined claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4206308 | Murakami et al. | Jun 1980 | A |
4339207 | Hof et al. | Jul 1982 | A |
4464064 | D'Luzansky | Aug 1984 | A |
4538926 | Chretien | Sep 1985 | A |
5738442 | Paron et al. | Apr 1998 | A |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110063069 A1 | Mar 2011 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60894031 | Mar 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12044010 | Mar 2008 | US |
Child | 12950314 | US |