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US 3,973,172 AGranted
Surge arrester of the multi-gap type
AssigneeThe Ohio Brass Company
InventorArnold G. Yost
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AssigneeThe Ohio Brass Company
InventorArnold G. Yost
Estimating the term…
A surge arrester of the multi-gap type made up of a series of gap units and a non-linear resistance disposed in a conventional porcelain housing. The gap units comprise a series of metal electrodes in the form of thin discs or plates arranged in a stack and spaced by ceramic insulating studs or posts; a surface of at least one of the electrodes in each gap unit, except in the area where the sparkover is to take place, is insulated to prevent wandering of the arcs over the surfaces of the plates to the edges of the plates where sparkover might take place along or across the edges of the whole series of plates making up the arrester. Such an action would greatly reduce the voltage of the multi-gap almost to the voltage of a single gap instead of an entire series of gaps. By eliminating this danger of wandering, the diameter of the plates can be substantially reduced, thus reducing the size and cost of the entire arrester assembly.
A surge arrester having a valve block, a gap assembly in series with the valve block and providing a plurality of spark gaps in series, said gap assembly comprising a plurality of aligned gap units disposed in a stack, each gap unit embodying two metallic disc electrodes having opposed surfaces, insulating spacer members interposed between adjacent electrodes for spacing the electrodes a predetermined distance from each other in the stack, at least one electrode of each gap unit having a projection disposed in opposition to a conductive surface of an adjacent electrode in the stack to provide a sparkover zone embodying a spark gap, and means for insulating the opposed surface of at least one of the electrodes in the gap units, except for the surface thereof in the sparkover zone whereby wandering of arcs from said sparkover zone onto adjacent surfaces of the electrodes during sparkover is prevented.
A surge arrester comprising a porcelain housing having a cylindrical bore, metal end members secured to said housing and closing the ends of said bore, a valve block disposed in the bore and a gap assembly disposed in the bore, means for connecting the valve block and gap assembly in series between said metal end members, said gap assembly providing a plurality of spark gaps in series and comprising a plurality of substantially flat metal plate electrodes disposed in a stack within said bore, said electrodes having a diameter slightly less than the interior diameter of said bore, insulating spacer members interposed between adjacent electrodes for spacing the electrodes a predetermined distance from each other in the stack, the spacer members comprising separately formed buttons of insulating material that are spaced apart circumferentially of the electrodes and directly engage the surfaces of the electrodes between which they are interposed, each electrode being composed of thin sheet metal and having a projection extending therefrom, the projection being integral with the remainder of the electrode and being formed of a portion of the metal of the electrode displaced from the general plane of the electrode, the projection being disposed in opposition to a projection of an adjacent electrode in the stack to provide a spark gap, a thin disc of insulating material engaging the surface of the electrode from which the projection extends and having an opening through which the projection of the associated electrode extends, the diameter of the disc of insulating material being slightly greater than the diameter of the electrode and the peripheral edges of the discs of insulating material lightly engaging the interior bore of the housing, the discs of insulating material being apertured to receive the spacer buttons whereby the spacer buttons directly engage the surfaces of the electrodes, the end electrodes of the electrode or gap assembly having one projection extending therefrom and having one insulating disc secured to the electrode on the side thereof from which the projection extends, the intermediate electrodes of the gap assembly having two spaced oppositely extending projections extending therefrom and having an insulating disc secured to each side of the said intermediate electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.