DC Switch Contact Elements with Spacer Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing high or medium voltage switches, particularly DC switches, experience unwanted movement and oscillations during switching, leading to abrasion and other detrimental effects due to high acceleration, which are not adequately addressed by current technologies.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of insulating spacer elements that guide contact elements along a defined displacement path, maintaining a gap between neighboring contact elements while allowing partial overlap, reducing wear and tear by ensuring flat contact faces align for conduction, and using a combination of external guiding elements or insulating spacer elements to manage the movement of contact elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If contact elements are allowed to move freely during switching, then switching speed is improved, but unwanted movement and oscillations increase causing abrasion and detrimental impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces insulating spacer elements as intermediary components between neighboring contact elements. These spacers maintain a defined gap during closing and opening operations, preventing direct contact and the associated unwanted movements and oscillations. The spacers act as mediators that enable controlled relative movement while preventing harmful direct interactions between contact elements, thus resolving the contradiction between fast switching and minimizing abrasion.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If contact elements are rigidly constrained during movement, then unwanted movement and oscillations are reduced, but switching speed and operational performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the contact element system by introducing separate insulating spacer elements that are electrically isolated from the conducting elements. This segmentation allows the contact elements to move independently along their defined paths without being rigidly constrained together, maintaining switching speed while the spacers prevent harmful relative movements and oscillations between neighboring contact elements.
3Reliability
If contact elements make direct contact during closing, then current conduction is established, but wear and tear and local heat generation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating spacer elements serve as mediators that maintain an optimized gap between neighboring contact elements during the closing operation. This defined gap ensures that contact faces align properly for reliable current conduction while preventing excessive wear and tear. The spacers control the interaction between contact elements, enabling efficient conduction without the harmful effects of uncontrolled direct contact.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~4B
AI summary
A medium or high DC voltage switch has a first set of contact elements (13a, 13b, 13c) and a second set of contact elements (14a, 14b, 14c) with each contact element including an insulating carrier (15) carrying conducting elements (16) aligned to form one or more current paths between terminals (8, 9) along an axial direction (A) in the closed state of the switch. For closing or opening the switch, neighboring contact elements are mutually displaced along a defined contour-guided path, using for example spacer elements (40) mounted onto the contact elements, along a direction (D) including a small displacement in the axial direction (A) such that the conducting elements can remain separated in axial direction (a) even when already overlapping in the displacement direction (D).