Circuit-interrupters having shunting capacitance around the separable power contacts with capacitance disconnecting means therefor

In combination, a plurality of serially-related vacuum-type interrupting power-units, each of said vacuum-type interrupting power-units having its individual pair of separable power-contacts, each of said vacuum-interrupter power units being shunted by a series circuit combination of a capacitance and a serially-related separable isolating capacitance contacts, means for causing the simultaneous opening of the main-power interrupting contacts of all of the vacuum-type power-units and a subsequent opening in point of time of the shunting separable capacitance contacts, and means for effecting simultaneous closing of said power-contacts and said isolating capacitance contacts during a closing operation.

In combination, a plurality of serially-related compressed-gas power-interrupting units arranged in electrical series for interrupting relatively high recovery voltages, each of said compressed-gas units including an electrically shunting circuit including a capacitance and a serially-related pair of separable capacitance isolating contacts, means for opening the main-power contacts of each of the compressed-gas units, means for effecting gas flow at each of the power arcs drawn at said main compressed-gas power-interrupting units, means providing a subsequent opening of the separable isolating capacitance contacts at a later point of time following the previous separation of the main-power interrupting contacts, and means for effecting simultaneous closing of said main-power and isolating capacitance contacts during a closing operation.

In combination, a puffer-type compressed-gas circuit-interrupting assemblage including a main-power unit and an electrically parallel capacitance unit, the main-power unit including a relatively stationary contact, a relatively stationary piston structure, a movable operating cylinder movable over said relatively fixed piston structure and carrying the movable power contact, an operating arm extending laterally from the movable operating cylinder, the movable capacitance isolating contact having a lost-motion mechanical connection with respect to said arm, whereby the pair of separable isolating contacts separates subsequent in point of time to the previous separation of the main-power interrupting contacts of the individual puffer-type interrupting unit, and means for effecting simultaneous closing of said main-power interrupting contacts and said isolating contacts during a closing operation.