Cutout life indicator gauge
AssigneeHubbell Incorporated
InventorRobert Wolf
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gauge for determining the operational viability of a device that requires that a consumable or otherwise erodible material for safe and/or efficient operation reside along or near an inside wall of a cavity, for example, a fuse tube containing an ablative arc-extinguishing material as found in a fused cutout, is provided, which gauge measures whether a sufficient quantity of the material to be consumed remains.
Claims16
A gauge for measuring whether a device that requires a consumable material necessary for the safe and/or efficient operation of the device contains enough of the consumable material for safe and effective use, the gauge comprising a gauge portion extending from a handle portion,
- the gauge portion comprising a gauge body, which gauge body has a distal end and one or more markings at selected distances from the distal end,
- the gauge body being of a shape and size so that it may be inserted into and progress through a cavity in the device when none of the consumable material is present, but said progress is blocked by the presence of a sufficient amount of the consumable material,
- wherein the markings comprise pass/fail markings that indicate a depth of insertion beyond which it can be concluded that insufficient consumable material remains, and/or hatch marks that measure the length of the gauge body inserted into the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.