Integral Bus Stabs with Folded Shapes for Thermal Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing bus systems for electrical enclosures, such as load centers, require costly conductive materials to satisfy thermal and electrical requirements, leading to increased costs due to the need for oversized bus bars and bus stabs to manage heat generation at fastening points.
Innovation Solution
A bus system with integrated folded bus stabs cut out as a unitary piece from a single sheet of conductive material, eliminating the need for fasteners like bolts and screws, and providing improved thermal dissipation and electrical engagement through a tapered and plug-on section design, allowing for thinner bus bars while meeting industry standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If bus bars and bus stabs are made with sufficient size and thickness to satisfy thermal requirements, then thermal dissipation is improved and temperature control is achieved, but the amount of conductive material used increases leading to higher costs
Solution Approach 1:
The bus stab and bus bar are merged into a single unitary piece formed from one continuous sheet of conductive material. This integration eliminates the need for separate components and reduces overall material usage while maintaining thermal performance through the continuous conductive path and increased surface area of the folded configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The bus stab is folded back on itself to create a three-dimensional structure with increased surface area. This dimensional transformation allows the same amount of material to provide greater thermal dissipation surface while using less total conductive material compared to a traditional straight bus stab design.
2Reliability
If conventional bus stabs are connected to bus bars using fasteners, then electrical connection is achieved, but heat generation increases at the fastening points
Solution Approach 1:
The bus stab and bus bar are integrated into a single unitary structure, eliminating the need for separate fasteners to connect them. This merger removes the fastening points that would otherwise generate heat, while maintaining reliable electrical connection through the continuous conductive material.
3Temperature
If bus bars and bus stabs are designed with sufficient thickness to manage heat generation, then thermal requirements are satisfied, but the overall cost of the load center increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of bus stab and bus bar into one unitary piece reduces the total amount of conductive material needed, directly lowering material costs while maintaining thermal performance through the folded design's increased surface area.
Solution Approach 2:
The folded configuration transforms a two-dimensional sheet into a three-dimensional structure with increased surface area, improving thermal dissipation without requiring additional material thickness or volume, thereby reducing overall manufacturing cost.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The integrated folded bus stabs reduce heat generation, enable better thermal dissipation, and allow for the use of less conductive material, achieving cost savings while maintaining compliance with thermal and electrical requirements, with experimental data showing temperature rise characteristics within industry standards even at reduced thicknesses.
Implementation Method 1
The folded portion has a tapered folded section with nonparallel edges, and a plug-on section with substantially parallel edges... The folded portions of the bus stabs are designed to provide greater surface area (than straight bus stabs), which allows for improved physical and electrical engagement of a circuit breaker connector thereon as well as improved thermal dissipation during operation.
Implementation Method 2
The bus bar and bus stabs are cut out (e.g., punched out) as a unitary piece from a single sheet of conductive material... When current is supplied through the conductors of the bus system to the downstream devices, heat is generated on the current carrying conductors of the bus system
Data Source
AI summary
A bus system for a load center includes a bus bar having a plurality of integrated bus stabs and has superior thermal characteristics for the amount of conductive material used. The bus bar and the bus stabs are formed as a unitary piece from a single sheet of conductive material. Each bus stab includes a folded portion with a plug-on section to receive a connector from a circuit breaker. The folded portion is formed with two opposing edges from flanges of the integrated bus stab which are folded and configured to be engaged by the connector, and forms a central channel, typically with a substantially U-shaped cross section. The folded portion further has a tapered folded section between the bus bar and the plug-on section. The bus system can be manufactured by cutting out the unitary piece with the bus bar and integrated bus stabs from a sheet of conductive material, and then stamping it to form the folded portion on each bus stab.