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US 4,940,862 AGranted
Vacuum interrupter with improved vapor shield for gas adsorption
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorVincent J. Santilli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vacuum circuit interrupter includes a vapor condensing shield formed of a porous structure of copper including a grain size inhibitor, such as boron, and a gettering metal, such as titanium or zirconium, in order to achieve enhanced levels of gas adsorption capability.
Claims11
A vacuum circuit interrupter including in combination:
- an evacuated envelope;
- a pair of separable contacts disposed within the evacuated envelope and separable to establish arcing;
- a vapor condensing shield provided interiorly within said evacuated envelope to prevent the deposition of metallic particles emitted from the arcing region onto the envelope;
- said vapor condensing shield consisting essentially of highly conductive metal in a structure having a porosity of at least about 10%.
1 more element
A vacuum type circuit interrupter in accordance with claim wherein said shield includes a quantity of a grain size inhibitor for said metal.
A method of making a shield for a vacuum interrupter so it has a high degree of gas adsorption capability comprising:
- starting with particles of high conductivity metal of a size no larger than about 10 microns;
- pressing and sintering said particle to achieve a porosity of at least about 10%.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.