Commutating Circuit Breaker

• US 20120199558A1
• Filed: 02/06/2012
• Published: 08/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innolith Assets AG
• Original Assignee: Roger W. Faulkner
• Inventors: Faulkner, Roger W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,890,019 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 218/143
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2201/004 Wiping action
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/16 Impedances connected with contacts
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/161 Variable impedances
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/22 Selection of fluids for arc-extinguishing
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/32 pneumatic
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/34 hydraulic
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/38 using electromagnet
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/596 for interrupting dc

Abstract

A commutating circuit breaker that progressively inserts increasing resistance into a circuit via physical motion of a shuttle that is linked into the circuit by at least one set of sliding electrical contacts on the shuttle that connect the power through the moving shuttle to a sequence of different resistive paths with increasing resistance; the motion of the shuttle can be either linear or rotary. At no point are the sliding stator electrodes separated from the matching stationary stator electrodes so as to generate a powerful arc, which minimizes damage to the sliding stator electrodes. Instead, the current is commutated from one resistive path to the next with small enough changes in resistance at each step that arcing is suppressed. The variable resistance can either be within the moving shuttle, or the shuttle can comprise a commutating shuttle that moves the current over a series of stationary resistors.

Claims

1. A Commutating Circuit Breaker comprising:

a stator having one or more first electrical contacts;

a shuttle having one or more second electrical contacts, the shuttle movable with respect to the stator;

a series of resistors existing at least in part as portions of one or both of the stator and the shuttle, and electrically coupled to one or both of the first and second electrical contacts; and

a launching system arranged to move the shuttle relative to the stator between an operational position where the Commutating Circuit Breaker presents little electrical resistance in the circuit that includes the breaker, and an open position in which the Commutating Circuit Breaker presents a very high electrical resistance in the circuit that includes the breaker;

wherein shuttle motion between the operational position and the open position changes the electrical path through the Commutating Circuit Breaker such that current is shunted into paths of increasing resistance.

2. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein the shuttle comprises a plurality of resistors of different resistances.

3. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein the stator comprises a plurality of resistors of different resistances.

4. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein the Commutating Circuit Breaker is arranged in a parallel power circuit with a fast commutating switch that is used to perform a first commutation of the current to the Commutating Circuit Breaker at an initial resistance level that is able to control the inrush of current in a dead short.

5. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 comprising a plurality of breaker sections electrically coupled in series.

6. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 5 wherein the shuttle comprises a commutator that rotates less than 180 degrees, and commutates the power through a plurality of series-connected sequences of resistors.

7. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 further comprising a pressurized fluid surrounding the shuttle

8. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 7 wherein fluid is selected from the group of fluids consisting of mineral oil, kerosene, silicone oil, a perfluorocarbon fluid, vegetable oil, biodiesel, a liquid that has high resistivity and high dielectric strength, and a dry SF₆-gas containing gas mixture.

9. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein the stator surrounds the shuttle, wherein the stator further comprises a low friction high dielectric strength material against which force is created against the shuttle by an elastic member.

10. A paired set of Commutating Circuit Breakers of claim 1 in which the momentum effect of accelerating and decelerating the shuttle mass of the first Commutating Circuit Breaker is counteracted by the momentum effect of accelerating and decelerating the shuttle mass of the second Commutating Circuit Breaker so that the momentum that must be transferred to the mounting system for the pair of commutating circuit breakers is greatly reduced.

11. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein one or both of the stator electrodes and/or the shuttle electrodes has molybdenum on the sliding surface of the electrode.

12. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 11 wherein the resistors are connected in a stack.

13. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 6 wherein shuttle has a plurality of commutation zones radially separated in the form of longitudinal stripes on the surface of the shuttle.

14. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein said shuttle electrodes are wide enough so that said shuttle electrodes are in contact with at least one stator electrode at all times during operation of the Commutating Circuit Breaker, except at the final opening of the circuit when current has been reduced significantly from its initial value.

15. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 14 wherein Shuttle Electrode A is simultaneously in contact with first Stator Electrode K and second Stator Electrode L, and the trailing edges of at least one of Shuttle Electrode A and Stator Electrode K are composed of materials of increasing resistivity so that by the time of the final separation of the electrodes A and K, most of the current will have already been commutated from a first electrical path from Shuttle Electrode A to Stator Electrode K, to a second electrical path from Shuttle Electrode A to Stator Electrode L.

16. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein the launching system comprises springs.

17. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 16 wherein the latching mechanism is based on piezoelectric actuators that relieve the normal force on a polished interface of high modulus materials such as polished steel/polished steel contact brakes to achieve very rapid actuation of the onset of movement of the shuttle.

18. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 1 wherein one or both of the stator electrodes and/or the shuttle electrodes has molybdenum on the sliding surface of the electrode.

19. The Commutating Circuit Breaker of claim 15 in which all of the electrode trailing edges, both stator electrodes and shuttle electrodes, are fabricated from a sequence of more and more electrically resistive materials, such that the resistivity of the portion of each first electrode at the last point of contact with another second electrode that is moving relative to said first electrode is at least 80 times the resistivity of copper, and more preferably 1000 to 100,000 times the resistivity of copper.

20. A Commutating Circuit Breaker comprising:

a stator;

a shuttle that is movable relative to the stator;

wherein motion of the shuttle relative to the stator cause the sequential switching of resistance into the circuit comprising the Commutating Circuit Breaker.