218 Chapter 6 ‘The charged springs are held in position by the closing latch which pre- ‘vents the closing cam from rotating. To release dhe spring. energy elder ant clectrically operated solenoid closing coil, or a manual closing lever is oper- ated. Following the activation of the closing solenoid a secondary closing latch is released while the primary latch rotates downward due to the force being exerted by the charged closing springs and thus the rotation of the clos- ‘ng cam which is connected to the operating rods is allowed. As the cam ro- tates it straightens the toggle linkage (refer to figure 6.13), which in turn ro- tates the main operating shaft thus driving the contacts that are connected to ‘the shaft by means of insulating rods. The straightening of the toggle links loads the trip latch as they go over- center. The trip latch then holds the circuit breaker in the closed position. In addition to clasing the contacts the clasing springs supply enangh energy to charge the opening springs. Opening of the contacts can be initiated either electrically or manually; however, the manual operation is generally provided only for maintenance purposes. When the tripping command is given the trip latch is released free- ing the trip roller carrier. The force produced by the over center toggle linkage rotates the trip roller carrier forward, and as the first toggle link rotates about its pivot it releases the support that provided to the second and third links. ‘The opening springs which are connected to the main operating shaft provide the necessary energy to open the contacts of the circuit breaker. Figure 6,14 Illustration of a pneumatic mechanism.Mechanical Design of Circuit Breakers 219 Figure 6.15 Toggle linkages arrangement to satisfy tip free requirements. 6.3.3 Pneumatic Mechanisms Pneumatic mechanisms are a logical choice for air blast circuit breakers and that is so because pressurized air is already used for insulating and interrupt- ing, howevea, pucumativ mcchanisins are not Tinited ty ait blast breakers, they also have been used to operate oil and SF circuit breakers. ‘Those mechanisms, which are used with air blast circuit breakers, usually ‘open and close pneumatically and in some cases there is only a pneumatic rather than a solid link connection between the mechanism and the contacts. ‘Other pneumatic mechanisms, such as the one that is illustrated in figure 6.14, use an air piston to drive the closing linkage and to charge a set of open- ing springs. This mechanism, which has been used in connection with oil and ‘SF6 circuit breakers, has a separate air reservoir where eufficient air is stored at high pressure for at least 5 operations without need of recharging in between operations.20 Chapter 6 Figure 6.16 Photogreph of « hydraulic mechanism used by ABB T&D Co. To close the circuit breaker. high pressure air is applied to the underside of the piston by opening a three way valve, the piston moves upwards transmit- ting the closing force through a toggle arrangement, figure 6.15, that is used to provide the trip free capability, to the linkage which is connected to the con- tacts by means of an insulating push-rod. In addition to closing the contacts ‘the mechanism charges a set of opening springs and once the contacts are closed a trip latch is engaged to hold the breaker in the closed position ‘Opening is achieved by energizing a trip solenoid which in tum releases the trip latch thus allowing the discharge of the opening springs which forces the ‘contacts to the open position.. ‘Another variation of a pneumatic mechanism is one where the pneumatic force is used to do both, the closing and the opening operation. ‘The direction being controlled by the activation of either of the independent opening or closing three way valves 6.3.4 Aydran Hydraulic mechanisms are in reality only a variation of the pneumatic opera- tor, the energy, in most cases, is stored in a nitrogen gas accumulator and the incompressible hydraulic fluid becomes fluid operating link that is interposed MechaniemsMechanical Design of Circuit Breakers 221 = EBB sn orconure a BB ow posse Figure 6.17 Functional operating diagram of the mechanism shown in figure 6.16202 Chapter 6 between the accumulator and a linkage system that is no different than that used in conjunction with pneumatic mechanisms, In a variation of the energy’s storage method, the nitrogen accumulator is replaced by a disk spring assembly which acts as a mechanical accumulator. A ‘mechanism of this type is shown in figure 6.16. It offers significant advan- tages; itis smaller, there is no chance for gas leaks from the accumulator, and the effects of the ambient temperature upon the stored energy are eliminated. “The operation of this mechanism can be described as follows, qnote what the ‘mumerical references to components correspond to those shown in figure 6.17). A supply of hydraulic oil is filtered and stored in a low pressure reservoir (2), from where itis compressed by the oil pump (11). ‘The high pressure oil is then stored in reservoir (5). ‘The piston (3) which is located inside of the hhigh pressure storage is connected to the spring column (1). ‘The springs are supported hy the tie bolts (2). A control link (15) checks on the charge of the spring column and activates the auxiliary switch contacts (16) that control the ‘pump’s motor (10) as required to maimtain the appropriate pressure. With the circuit breaker in the closed position the operating piston (7), which is connected to the conventional circuit breaker linkages (8), has high Pressure applied to both of its faces. To open the breaker the opening solenoid (17a) is energized causing the changeover valve to switch positions and con- nect the underside of the operating piston to low pressure (6), thus causing the piston ta move to the open position Closing as the reverse of the opening and is initiated by energizing the closing solenoid (17b) and by admitting high pressure to the underside of the operating piston. Item (4) is an storage eylin- der, (9) is a mechanical interlock (13) is an oil drain valve and (14) is a pres- sure release valve. REFERENCES 1. CIGRE SC13, High Voltage Circuit Breaker Reliability Data For Use In System Reliability Studies, CIGRE Publication, Paris France 1991. 2. R. Holm Electrical Contacts, Almquist & Wiksclls Akademiska Hand- bicker, Stockholm, Sweden, 1946. 3. J. B. P. Williamson, Deterioration process in electrical connectors, Proc. 44th. Int. Conf. Electr. Contact Phenomena, Swansea, Wales, 1968, 4K. Lemelson, About the Failure of Closed Heavy Current Contact Pieces in Insulating Oil at High Temperatures, IEEE Trans. PHP, Vol. 9, March 1973, 5. G. Windred, Electrical Contacts, McMillan and Co. Ltd., London, 1940. 6. S.C. Killian, A New Outdoor Air Switch And A New Concept Of Con- ‘tact Performance, AIEE Trans. Vol. 67: 1382-1389, 1948,‘Mechanical Design of Circuit Breakers 23 7. A. Greenwood, Vacuum Switchgear, IEE Power Series 18, London, UK, 1994, 8 W. R. Wilson, High-Current Arc Erosion of Electrical Contact Materials, ATE Trans. Part Ill, PAS Vol. 74: 657-664, August 1955, 9. T. H. Lee, Physics and Engineering of High Power Devices, The Massa~ chusetts Institute of Technology: 485-489, 1975. 10. P. Barkan, R. V. McGamrty, A Spring-Actuated Cam Follower System; Design Theory and Experimental Results, Trans. of ASME, Joumal of Engineering for Industry, Vol. 87, Series B, No. 3: 279-286, 1965,