Ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters

A ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters, the ceramic insulator comprising:

• a base body extending along a longitudinal extent and forming a cavity in the longitudinal extent;
• said cavity having a first opening on a first side of the longitudinal extent, and a second opening on a second side of the longitudinal extent;
• connectors sealing said first and second openings in a gas-tight manner to form a sealed first opening and a sealed second opening;
• said first sealed opening being configured for guiding at least one fixed contact into said cavity, and said sealed second opening being configured for guiding at least one moving contact into said cavity;
• and
• one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed on an inner face of said cavity, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of said base body, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters having an annular and/or convex structure, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters being a plurality of electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed with a mutual clearance, and an extent of said electrically conductive discharge path interrupters, in a direction of the longitudinal extent, being 5% to 30% of the clearance between said discharge path interrupters in the direction of the longitudinal extent.

A method of producing a ceramic insulator for a vacuum interrupter,

• the ceramic insulator having a base body extending along a longitudinal extent and forming a cavity in the longitudinal extent;
• the cavity being formed with a first opening on a first side of the longitudinal extent and with a second opening on a second side of the longitudinal extent;
• the first and second openings being sealed in a gas-tight manner by appropriate connecting devices, and wherein the sealed first opening is configured for guiding at least one fixed contact into the cavity, and the sealed second opening is configured for guiding at least one moving contact into the cavity;
• the method comprising:
• forming on an inner side of the cavity of the ceramic insulator, one or more electrically conductive structures, extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of the ceramic insulator, the one or more electrically conductive structures having an annular and/or convex structure, the electrically conductive structures being formed by a method selected from the group consisting of sputtering, vapor deposition, spraying, chemical deposition and printing;
• and
• thereby forming the electrically conductive structures to either function directly as electrically conductive discharge path interrupters, or to support the electrically conductive discharge path interrupters applied to the structures, the electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed with a clearance of between 5 mm and 50 mm therebetween.