Reinforcement structure for a vacuum interrupter
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorsHemanth Kumar Ramesh Kumar, Paul N. Stoving
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A reinforcement structure for a vacuum interrupter is disclosed. For example, in some implementations, a vacuum interrupter includes a first electrical contact; a second electrical contact; a vessel that encloses the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact in an evacuated space, the vessel including an endcap; and a reinforcement structure at an exterior surface of the endcap, the reinforcement structure including a first side, a second side, and an opening that passes through the reinforcement structure from the first side to the second side. The exterior surface of the endcap includes a recessed region, and at least a portion of the opening is positioned over the recessed region.
Claims20
A vacuum interrupter comprising:
- a first electrical contact;
- a second electrical contact;
- a vessel that encloses the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact in an evacuated space, the vessel comprising an endcap;
- and
- a reinforcement structure at an exterior surface of the endcap, the reinforcement structure comprising a first side, a second side, and an opening that passes through the reinforcement structure from the first side to the second side, wherein the exterior surface of the endcap comprises a recessed region, and at least a portion of the opening is positioned over the recessed region, and wherein the recessed region initially includes a first fluid, and the opening is configured to allow a second fluid to flow into the recessed region such that at least some of the first fluid is replaced with the second fluid.
A reinforcement structure for an endcap of a vacuum interrupter, the reinforcement structure comprising:
- a body comprising:
- a first side;
- a second side;
- and openings that pass through the body from the first side to the second side, the openings configured to allow fluid to flow between the first side and the second side, wherein
- the first side of the body is configured to be placed in contact with an exterior surface of the endcap of the vacuum interrupter prior to or concurrently with brazing the endcap to a vessel configured to enclose first and second electrical contacts, and
- at least one of the openings is configured to be placed over a recessed region of the endcap.
A method of assembling a vacuum interrupter, the method comprising:
- providing a vessel body and at least one endcap, the vessel body comprising an insulating material, the at least one endcap comprising a metallic material;
- placing a first side of a reinforcement structure in contact with an exterior surface of the at least one endcap, the reinforcement structure comprising at least one opening that passes from the first side to a second side of the reinforcement structure;
- and
- assembling the vacuum interrupter by brazing the at least one endcap to the vessel body while the reinforcement structure is in contact with the exterior surface of the at least one endcap, wherein
- the exterior surface of the at least one endcap comprises a channel, and placing the first side of the reinforcement structure in contact with the exterior surface of the at least one endcap comprises positioning the reinforcement structure on the endcap such that at least a portion of the at least one opening is over at least a portion of the channel, and the method further comprises:
- placing the vacuum interrupter in a mold;
- injecting an uncured encapsulating material into the mold, the uncured encapsulating material flowing into the channel through the at least one opening and air in the channel flowing out of the channel through the opening;
- and
- allowing the encapsulating material to cure.
A reinforcement structure for an endcap of a vacuum interrupter, the reinforcement structure comprising:
- a body comprising a first side and a second side, the body further comprising:
- a first opening passing through the body from the first side to the second side, the first opening being configured to receive a portion of the endcap;
- and
- at least one other opening passing through the body from the first side to the second side, wherein
- the reinforcement structure is configured to be mounted to an exterior surface of the endcap such that the first side of the body faces the exterior surface of the endcap, the second side of the body faces away from the exterior surface of the endcap, and the at least one other opening is configured to be placed over a recessed region of the end cap and to fluidly couple a region between the first side and the exterior surface of the endcap to a region at the second side.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.