Heavy-duty circuit-breaker with sealing against hot gas
View Patent ↗The heavy-duty circuit-breaker with arc blowing has an element which is sensitive to hot gas and/or to gas pressure and is protected by means of a seal against a hot-gas flow. The seal is advantageously a movable non-contacting seal. The seal has a channel entrance for production of a partial hot-gas flow of the hot-gas flow and, connected downstream from this, a channel in order to reduce the mass flow of the partial hot-gas flow, and an expansion chamber in order to expand the volume of the partial hot-gas flow. The expansion chamber is a pressure-relief area. The element may, for example, be a guide element, a contact-making element or a sealing element.
1. A heavy-duty circuit-breaker, in which a hot-gas flow can be formed by an arc which may be struck during a switching process, comprising:
first and second contact pieces;
an element which is sensitive to at least one of hot gas and gas pressure; and
a seal provided in order to protect the element against the hot-gas flow, the seal including:
a channel entrance for introduction of a partial hot-gas flow of the hot-gas flow,
a channel connected downstream of the channel entrance in a hot-gas flow direction to reduce the mass flow of the partial hot-gas flow, and
an expansion chamber arranged in an interior portion of the seal to expand the volume of the partial hot-gas flow.
2. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the seal is a movable seal and does not contact an outlet flow tube.
3. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the channel has a cross section through which flow can pass such that the mass flow of the partial hot-gas flow is essentially caused by production of internal friction in the partial hot-gas flow.
4. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the channel entrance has a gap.
5. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the channel is annular.
6. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the expansion chamber has a pressure-relief area which is open towards the element and is used as the only pressure-relief means.
7. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the expansion chamber includes a gradually increasing cross-sectional area.
8. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 7 , gradually increasing cross-sectional area increases continuously or in steps.
9. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the expansion chamber has at least one pressure-relief opening, through which the expansion chamber is connected to a reservoir volume, which contains gas whose temperature is at most as high as the temperature of the hot-gas flow, and/or whose pressure is at most as high as the pressure of the hot-gas flow.
10. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the expansion chamber has at least one pressure-relief opening, through which the expansion chamber is connected to a reservoir volume, which contains gas whose temperature is at most as high as the temperature of the hot-gas flow, and/or whose pressure is at most as high as the pressure of the hot-gas flow.
11. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the element
is a guide element for mechanical guidance of a first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker, which can move with respect to a second part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker.
12. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the element is a contact-making element for making electrical contact with a first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker, which can move with respect to a second part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker.
13. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the element is a sealing element for sealing of a first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker from a second part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker, with the first part being movable with respect to the second part.
14. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the element
is a guide element for mechanical guidance of a first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker, which can move with respect to a second part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker.
15. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker extends at least partially along an axis (A), and the channel extends along this axis (A).
16. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 15 , wherein at least one of the channel and the expansion chamber is adjacent to the first part.
17. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 14 , wherein at least one of the channel and the expansion chamber is adjacent to the first part.
18. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 17 , wherein a holder is provided for holding the element and contributes at least partially to the formation of a further channel, which connects the element to the expansion chamber.
19. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a holder is provided for holding the element and contributes at least partially to the formation of a further channel, which connects the element to the expansion chamber.
20. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 19 , wherein a holder is provided for holding the element, and is formed integrally with the seal.
21. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a holder is provided for holding the element, and is formed integrally with the seal.
22. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 21 , wherein at least two such seals are provided, arranged in series.
23. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least two such seals are provided, arranged in series.
24. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the element is a contact-making element for making electrical contact with a first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker, which can move with respect to a second part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker.
25. The heavy-duty circuit-breaker as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the element is a sealing element for sealing of a first part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker from a second part of the heavy-duty circuit-breaker, with the first part being movable with respect to the second part.
26. A method for protection of an element, which is sensitive to at least one of a hot gas and gas pressure, of a heavy-duty circuit-breaker including first and second contact pieces, against a hot-gas flow, with a seal being arranged between the hot-gas flow and the element, the seal including a channel entrance for introduction of a partial hot-gas flow of the hot-gas flow, a channel connected downstream of the channel entrance in a hot-gas flow direction to reduce the mass flow of the partial hot-gas flow, and an expansion chamber arranged in an interior portion of the seal to expand the volume of the partial hot-gas flow, the method, comprising:
outputting the partial hot-gas flow from the hot-gas flow into the channel entrance in the seal;
reducing the mass flow of the partial hot-gas flow in the channel; and
expanding the volume of the partial hot-gas flow in the expansion chamber.
27. A heavy-duty circuit-breaker, in which a hot-gas flow can be formed by an arc which may be struck during a switching process, comprising: first and second contact pieces; an element which is sensitive to at least one of hot gas and gas pressure; and a seal provided in order to protect the element against the hot-gas flow, the seal including: a channel entrance for introduction of a partial hot-gas flow of the hot-gas flow, a first channel connected downstream of the channel entrance in a hot-gas flow direction to reduce the mass flow of the partial hot-gas flow, an expansion chamber to expand the volume of the partial hot-gas flow, and a second channel arranged downstream of the expansion chamber.