Steel arcing contact for circuit breaker
AssigneeI-T-E Imperial Corporation
InventorWard E. Laubach
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The arcing contact of a circuit breaker is made of a steel body which is plated with a copper flash and is then silver-plated. An arcing contact tip which makes actual contact to a cooperating arcing contact is made of a conventional silver-molybdenum alloy which is attached to the steel arcing contact as by brazing. The steel arcing contact is then connected in parallel with a conventional main contact which is made of high conductivity copper, or some other material having a conductivity which is high in comparison to the conductivity of steel. The steel arcing contact is used in either a butt-type contact configuration or in a jaw-type contact configuration.
Claims7
In a high power circuit breaker;
- a first stationary main terminal and second stationary main terminal, first and second main contacts movable between an engaged and disengaged position relative to one another and connected to said first and second main terminals, respectively, first and second arcing contacts electrically connected to said first and second main contacts, respectively, and to said first and second main stationary terminals, respectively, and movable between an engaged and disengaged position;
- said first and second arcing contacts being engaged before and disengaged after said first and second main contacts are engaged and disengaged, respectively;
- said first main contact having a major body portion of highly conductive metal;
- said first arcing contact having a major body portion consisting of a ferrous material and having a resistivity which is greater than the resistivity of said major body portion of said first main contact;
- said first arcing contact having a contacting tip portion for making engagement to said second arcing contact which is of an alloy of copper which has a greater resistance to erosion under the influence of an electric arc than either the said highly conductive metal material of said first contact or said ferrous material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.