Suspension insulator

A suspension insulator comprising

• an elongated electrically insulating rod for supporting a load in tension,
• an end connector affixed to a longitudinal end of said rod, said end connector comprising means mechanically bonding said end connector to said rod, said bonding means comprising a resin compound having temperature dependent bonding properties, and a rigid retainer receiving and retaining said resin compound,
• an end fitting affixed to said end connector, and
• means spaced apart from said retainer and in contact with said end fitting for protecting said resin compound from being heated beyond predetermined desirable limits due to electrical current flow upon an external electrical flashover of said suspension insulator, said protecting means providing an electrical current path that substantially bypasses said retainer to thereby maintain an effective mechanical bond between said end connector and said rod during and subsequent to a flashover, said protecting means comprising an elongate cylinder disposed coextensive with said retainer over a substantial portion of said retainer.

A suspension insulator comprising

• an elongated electrically insulating rod for supporting a load in tension,
• an end connector affixed to a longitudinal end of said rod,
• a plurality of axially aligned, elongated, insulating shells mounted about and serially disposed along the longitudinal axis of said rod, each of said plurality of shells having a centrally disposed elongated bore,
• means filling substantially all of the spaces between said rod and the internal bores of said plurality of shells, and
• means disposed between adjacent ones of said shells and said rod for compensating for thermally induced volumetric changes of said shells, said rod and said filling means, said compensating means comprising annularly shaped discs fabricated from a closed cell compressible material.

A suspension insulator comprising

• an elongated electrically insulating rod for supporting a load in tension,
• an end connector affixed to a longitudinal end of said rod,
• a plurality of axially aligned, elongated, insulating shells mounted about and serially disposed along the longitudinal axis of said rod, each of said plurality of shells having a centrally disposed elongated bore,
• means filling substantially all of the spaces between said rod and the internal bores of said plurality of shells, and
• means disposed between adjacent ones of said shells and said rod for compensating for thermally induced volumetric changes of said shells, said rod and said filling means, said compensating means comprising annularly shaped compensation members fabricated from a closed cell compressible material.