Description:A GAS - INSULATED CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH IMPROVED INTERRUPTING PERFORMANCE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is related to a gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance.
A Circuit Breaker (CB) is primarily used to interrupt normal / fault / capacitive / inductive currents of high voltage power transmission and distribution systems. When the CB is in closed condition it allows flow of normal electrical charge (current) through a closed electrical system (circuit). The magnitude of current is governed by the system characteristics and state. Short circuits, causing abnormal flow of current, are sensed by current sensors and prevented by isolating the source and the load by circuit breakers.
BACKGROUND/ PRIOR ART OF THE INVENTION
Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
When fault current is interrupted by an interrupter, arc is struck between the arcing contacts. The energy content of the arc depends on the current magnitude, length of the arc and similar other parameters. As the temperature of the arc is quite high it decomposes the insulating medium (gas) and materials exposed to arc. Decomposed products accumulate in the vicinity destabilize insulation and are removed for sustaining the dielectric properties of the inter-electrode gap for subsequent interruptions.
In conventional interrupters one of the two contacts is fixed, during interruption the moving contact is driven by operating mechanism and an arc is struck on contact separation. At current-zero the arc is extinguished naturally exposing the developed inter-electrode gap to system and transient recovery voltages. The gap reignites or the arc is re-struck should the gap fail to withstand these voltages. For mechanical constraints limited inter-electrode gaps only can be generated in conventional interrupters, promoting use of multiple breaks for EHV circuit breakers. Up to 245kV single- break circuit breaker designs are common, beyond this rating two or more breaks are used in series to form a circuit breaker. The multiple breaks require voltage equalizing devices like grading capacitors etc, affecting circuit breaker reliability and cost. A circuit breaker, in particular a high-voltage circuit breaker, insulated by SF6gas, comprising, a fixed and the movable arcing contact. The movable arcing contact is integrated with a blast nozzle and is actuated by a drive. The SF6 gas compression volume being decreased during the process of tripping such that a flow of the SF6 gas is directed by the blast nozzle toward the arc being produced.

Prior Art
In general, to limit the voltage appearing across the contacts during interruption, multiple breaks are preferred. The multiple break system is operated by same drive which requires higher energy drive for its operation. To overcome this problem, a dual motion contact system has been identified as an alternative solution (Fig 1)). However, in all these systems, the second movable contact i.e., other than primary moving contact takes sufficient portion of energy from the operating mechanism. In some of the conventional breakers, grounded enclosures are mounted horizontally (
US 5736704 A). The pole comprises two gas-tight insulated bushings respectively connected, inside the enclosure, to fixed contacts and to movable contacts. Movable contact actuated by an operating rod passing through the enclosure in a gastight manner and connected, outside the enclosure, to an operating mechanism. Some times in horizontally mounted circuit breakers also, mechanism is provided from the side and operated through rotational shaft arrangement ( US 5750949 A) . In some of the conventional breakers, for maintenance or removal of circuit breaker pole, epoxy insulators have to be disconnected from the circuit breaker pole (US 5298703). This type of arrangement requires lot of maintenance schedules and dismantling of GIS equipment also for maintenance of gas circuit breaker under site conditions. Similarly, in hybrid configurations referred in patent US9620939B2, dismantling of breaker pole for maintenance involved removal of other modules of switchgear which may affect performance of equipment in long run.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The principal objective of this invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by reduction of break per pole for circuit breaker of higher voltage class.

A further object of this invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by maintenance of circuit breaker pole without dismantling the GIS bay.
Other object of the present invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by maintenance of circuit breaker pole without dismantling the housing of gas circuit breaker.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by replacement of circuit breaker pole and contact system without dismantling the GIS bay.
A further object of this invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by replacement of circuit breaker pole and contact system without dismantling the housing of gas circuit breaker.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by self-locking connection from circuit breaker pole to support insulator.
A further object of this invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by provision to isolate interrupter enclosure from interrupter pole and from the operating drive.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by mechanical support of the pole through novel interrupter enclosure.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by current transfer between circuit breaker pole and support insulator through movable bridge and stopper arrangement.
A further object of this invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by integration of interrupter pole and circuit breaker housing through plug and play arrangement.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by case ease in installation and integration of circuit breaker with operating drive.
Other object of the invention is to provide a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance by ease in transportation of vertically mounted gas circuit breaker.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred form of the present invention is illustrated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main objective of the present invention is to maintain or replace the circuit breaker pole without dismantling circuit breaker metallic enclosure and without dismantling GIS bay modules with a novel plug and play arrangement between circuit breaker pole and epoxy support insulator. The following have been incorporated to achieve the present objective:

1. A novel housing for interrupter pole
2. Integration of interrupter pole and operating drive.
3. Removal of interrupter pole without dismantling operating drive from position.
4. Integration of interrupter pole to support insulators and further housing of gas circuit breaker through novel sliding joints.
5. Integration of interrupter pole to support insulators of gas circuit breaker through a novel self-locking coupler.
6. Integration of circuit breaker pole and housing through plug and play arrangement.
7. Integration of circuit breaker pole and housing through sliding joints.

One or more drawbacks of conventional systems and process are overcome, and additional advantages are provided through the apparatus and a method as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the technicalities of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered to be part of the claimed disclosure.
According to the invention there is provided, a Gas insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance comprising of vertically/horizontally mounted interrupter pole(20) and linearly operating drive with coupling element, wherein the interrupter pole (20) includes top pole(dynamic pole) connected to bottom pole(static pole),in which the top pole includes moving arcing contact system [01-05], compression volume [06], thermal volume [07], movable fixed contact system [08], dual motion mechanism [09], housing for exhaust of arced gas [10] and metallic pull tube [11],in which the arcing contacts are mainly fixed movable contact and movable arcing contact and the bottom pole includes
support insulator [13], arcing insulator [14], insulated operating rod [15], piston assembly [16] and housing for arced gas exhaust [17],wherein the support insulator [13] is provided to support piston assembly [16] and housing for arced gas exhaust [17],wherein the movable contact system is operated by insulated operating rod (15) and is guided by guide housing(31) located in mechanism housing (30).

Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The illustrated embodiments of the subject matter will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems, and processes that are consistent with the subject matter as claimed herein, wherein:
Fig. 1 - shows conventional Enclosures of gas circuit breakers.
Fig. 2 - shows assembly of gas circuit breaker pole.
Fig. 3 - shows circuit breaker enclosure.
Fig. 4 - shows self-locking arrangement of circuit breaker pole with novel contact system of plug and play arrangement.
Fig. 5 - shows coupling arrangement for integration of Circuit breaker pole to the operating drive
Fig 6 – shows assembly of gas circuit breaker pole with circuit breaker enclosure and plug and play arrangement
Fig. 7 – shows circuit breaker pole removal without dismantling circuit breaker enclosure.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the embodiments of the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof have been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.

Before describing in detail, replaceable steady pad in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the present invention resides primarily in a novel and non-obvious combination of hardware elements and method steps. Accordingly, these elements and steps have been represented by conventional elements and steps in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

The present invention is directed to solve the above-described problems of the prior art and to provide a replaceable steady pad for cylindrical workpieces in accordance with the present invention and to enable to accurately serve its intended purpose.
The present invention is related to a technology pertaining to invention regarding
a Gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance.

The gas-insulated circuit breaker comprising of vertically mounted interrupter pole (20) and linearly operating drive with appropriate coupling element. The interrupter pole is insulated from grounded enclosure with compressed SF6 gas. The novelty of patent is withdrawal of high voltage parts, here it is called interrupter pole without disturbing circuit breaker housing which helps to do maintenance of the breaker in shortest possible time. The proposed technique helps in replacement of circuit breaker pole in case of damage or during maintenance without dismantling of gas insulated substation bay. The technique can be employed in particular for vertically mounted breakers and can be extended to horizontally mounted breakers.

The Interrupter pole is divided into two parts. One is top pole or dynamic pole and other is bottom pole or static pole. The top pole comprises of moving arcing contact system [01-05], compression volume [06], thermal volume [07], movable fixed contact system [08], dual motion mechanism [09], housing for exhaust of arced gas [10] and metallic pull tube [11]. The arcing contacts are mainly fixed movable contact and movable arcing contact. In the present invention, the socket [01], made of a high conductivity and low erosion material is held on a socket support [02]. The socket is covered by a insulating shroud [03] made from filled PTFE material. The nozzle [05] is fixed to dynamic current carrying (CC) contact [04] and to the socket contact assembly. The socket [01], insulating shroud [03] and current carrying contact [04] are termed as the socket contact assembly. The top pole is supported from grounded enclosure through epoxy support insulator [12]. The top pole is connected to bottom pole assembly through easily accessible link. The top pole comprises of movable contact assembly [01-05] and second movable contact [08]. One more important part of this system is dual motion mechanism [09]. The movable arcing contact system comprises of current carrying contact [04] integrated with insulated nozzle [05] and blast cylinder (compression volume [06]). The compression volume [06] is isolated from thermal volume [07] with non-returnable valve (valve which opens only when pressure in compression volume is more than thermal volume [07]). Fig. 2 shows the Circuit breaker pole assembly.

The bottom pole comprises of support insulator [13], arcing insulator [14], insulated operating rod [15], piston assembly [16] and housing for arced gas exhaust [17]. Support insulator [13] is used to support piston assembly [16] and housing for arced gas exhaust [17]. One more function of support insulator [13] is to support high voltage connection (second terminal) of circuit breaker. Support insulator [13] has two terminals, one is high voltage terminal and second one is grounded terminal. The insulated operating rod [15] is located coaxially inside support insulator [13] in such a way that, electrostatic field across insulating operating rod [15] is lowest in all the possible positions of the drive (both open, close and during close-open). The arcing insulator [14] is also supported by support insulator [13]. The arcing insulator [14] further supports fixed current carrying contact system [08] and guide the moving contact system [01-05]. The piston which creates pressure in compression cylinder [06] is connected to housing [17] through which movable arcing system [01-05] is guided. This housing [17] is to facilitate for the discharge of arced gas and to support / guide the bottom pole from circuit breaker grounded enclosure [18] through epoxy insulator [12B]. One more objective of present patent is to provide adjustable coupling [19] from breaker pole to terminals of breaker [20] as it requires high quality manufacturing to achieve linear and angular accuracy. Integration of grounded enclosure [18] to epoxy insulator [12A,12B] has flexible connection to facilitate height adjustments and at the same time to offer lowest possible resistance. The proposed coupling element [19] is adjustable in both directions and transfers current effectively from / to the circuit breaker pole [20]. This is achieved by using adjustable elements on either side of coupling element [19]. This coupling is effective for higher fault currents of and higher rated currents of few thousands of amperes. This coupling element [19] comprises of cylindrical member of rotatable type with current transfer contacts [20]. This coupling transfers current from dual motion mechanism housing of top pole [09] or housing for arced gas exhaust [17] to epoxy insulator [12B]. The coupling element [19] comprises of self-locking element [21] which is used to extend high voltage connection from circuit breaker pole [20] to epoxy insulator [12] through novel plug and play arrangement [22].

The interrupter / circuit breaker pole [20] is integrated to epoxy support insulator [12] through a novel plug and play arrangement [22]. The interrupter pole [20] is supported at top through epoxy insulator [12A]. The bottom pole [20 B] of interrupter is supported from mechanism housing [23] as well as at bottom port 1 [29D] through epoxy insulator [12B]. The integration of circuit breaker pole [20] to the epoxy insulator [12A,12B] shall be critical for maintenance of circuit breaker.
In conventional connections, for dismantling of interrupter pole, it is essential to dismantle GIS bay as well as circuit breaker enclosure [18]. This is a time consuming process. There is a possibility of opening of GIS of all other modules at site which may hamper performance and reliability. In view of above, a novel technique has been proposed to integrate circuit breaker pole [20] with the epoxy insulator [12A,12B] so that the high voltage connection between them is a plug and play type. During circuit breaker is in service, the high voltage connection is made between interrupter pole [20] and epoxy support insulator [12]. During maintenance, movable type connection is adopted. To take out the circuit breaker pole [20 A, 20 B], this plug-in connection is moved away from interrupter pole both at the top and bottom so that pole is isolated from CB enclosure [18]. The circuit breaker pole [20] is isolated from the epoxy support insulator [12] which is integrated firmly with circuit breaker housing [18]. This isolation is made on need basis. When breaker is in service, pole is integrated with epoxy support insulator [12]. When breaker pole [20] is to be taken out for maintenance, isolation to be carried out between support insulator [12] and breaker pole [20]. For this isolation, two contacts are used, first one is contact 1 [23] and second one is contact 2 [24]. Contact 1 is fixed to support insulator [12] and contact 2 [24] is fixed to circuit breaker pole [20]. There is a sliding joint [27] which slides between contact 1 [23] and contact 2 [24]. When contact 2 is tightened to circuit breaker pole [20], it does not project beyond diameter of pole. Contact 1 [23] is placed in contact housing [25] and contact housing acts as current transfer joint between contact 1 [23] and support insulator HT insert [26]. The contact housing [25] also meets the requirement of high voltage shield to achieve uniform field across support insulator [12]. The design of contact 1 [23] and contact housing [25] are such that, the sliding joint [27] can be moved inside contact housing [25] to the contact 1 [23] level. This sliding is made to isolate circuit breaker pole [20] from the CB housing [18]. To engage the circuit breaker pole [20] to the CB housing [18], sliding joint [27] is moved towards contact 2 [24] till there is a stopper [28] on contact 2 [24]. When sliding joint [27] touches the stopper [28], the contact 1 [23] and contact 2 [24] are engaged and sliding joint [27] cannot move further towards pole [20]. Similarly, to arrest movement of sliding joint [27] towards contact housing [25] there is a locking bolt projected inside of sliding joint [27]. Sliding joint [27] is again comprising of two parts. One is flexible contact [27A] and second one is multiple shields [27B] covering from either side to achieve uniform electric field around it. To move sliding joint [27] from integrated to isolated position, an opening [29D, 29C] is provided in the housing [18] opposite to the support insulator holder [29E, 29 B]. This opening is called as bottom port 2 [29E]. This port has two functions, one is to move sliding joint [27] from integration mode to isolation mode or vice versa and second one is to isolate pole [20] from mechanism housing [30] also. Figure 3 shows the interrupter housing with the ports described above. The circuit breaker housing [18] has total six ports [29A-29F]. Top port / pole dismantling port [29A] is to remove pole [20] from housing [18]. Pole support port [29F] is to integrate to mechanism housing [30] for integration to operating mechanism [31]. Top port 1 [29B] acts as dismantling port and Top port 2 [29C] acts as a holder for support insulator [12]. Similarly, bottom port 1 [29D] acts as holder for support insulator and bottom port 2 [29E] acts as dismantling port. Figure 4 shows plug and play arrangement [22] between circuit breaker pole and epoxy insulator. The plug and play arrangement [22] comprising of contact 1 [23], contact 2 [24], contact housing [25], HT insert of insulator [26], sliding joint [27] and stopper [28]. One more objective of present patent is to provide adjustable coupling [19] from breaker pole to terminals of breaker [20] as it requires high quality manufacturing to achieve linear and angular accuracy. Integration of breaker pole [20] to epoxy insulator [12A,12B] has flexible connection to facilitate height adjustments and at the same time to offer lowest possible resistance. The proposed coupling element [19] is adjustable in both directions and transfers current effectively from / to the circuit breaker pole [20]. This is achieved by using adjustable spacers on either side of coupling element [19]. This coupling is effective for higher fault currents of and higher rated currents of few thousands of amperes. This coupling element [19] comprises of cylindrical member of rotatable type with current transfer contacts [20]. This coupling transfers current from dual motion mechanism housing of top pole [09] or housing for arced gas exhaust [17] to epoxy insulator [12B].. The coupling element [19] comprises of self-locking element [21] which is used to extend high voltage connection from circuit breaker pole [20] to epoxy insulator [12] through novel plug and play arrangement [22]. Precisely, the self-locking element [21] extends connection to contact 2 [24]. HT connection from self-locking element [21] to epoxy insulator [12] shall be made through plug and play arrangement [22]. Figure 4 also shows Self- locking arrangement of circuit breaker pole [20] with novel contact system of plug and play arrangement [22].

The moveable contact system is being operated by insulated operating rod [15] and is guided by using guide housing [31] located in mechanism housing [30]. The insulated operating rod [15] is connected from movable contact system through metallic pull tube [11] which is also used to exhaust hot arced gas. Primarily the movable contact system with metallic pull tube [11] is guided through piston housing and piston support [16A]. The insulated operating rod [15] is connected to operating drive [32] through mechanism terminal [33A] and adapter [33] which has provision for guiding the insulated operating rod [15]. The adapter [33] is designed in such a way that it does not hamper speed of the operating drive [32]. The adapter [33] dimensions are so close to guide housing [31] to ensure frictionless movement of contact system. The adapter [33] is a circular plate and has Teflon/insulated ring [33A] to move against guide housing [31]. The circular plate / adapter [33] has slots to communicate gas from interrupter to operating drive side and the slot area is so high that gas pressure does not build under the adapter [33] during opening operation. The adapter [33] is made of light weight metal like Aluminum to limit the weight of moving mass. Fig. 5 shows the guide support for insulated operating rod [15] assembly. It also shows Coupling Arrangement for Integration of Circuit breaker pole [20] to the operating drive [32]. Further, it is important to maintain gas communication between interrupter housing [18] and mechanism housing [30] (at the bottom of the guide housing) to overcome the problem of speed limitation. This interrupter housing [18] is filled with gas and isolated from environment through dynamic seal [35]. The mechanism housing has two main functions: one is to support interrupter pole through supporting element [36]. Second one is to hold guide housing [09] to guide moving contact system connected to insulated operating rod [15].

The circuit breaker assembly is divided into circuit breaker pole [20], mechanism housing [30] to support circuit breaker pole and acts as an interface between circuit breaker housing [18] and supporting element [36] through mechanism housing [30]. Mechanism housing [30] is connected to operating drive [32] through distance piece [37] to accommodate metallic operating rod [34] between insulated operating rod [15] and vertically moving mechanism shaft through a special coupler [38]. Precisely, the insulated operating rod [15] connected to metallic rod [31A] through adapter [33] and mechanism terminal [33A] is clamped to operating rod [34] of drive [32] through a special Coupler [38] which can adjust misalignment. The feature of breaker assembly is that for transportation of the breaker assembly with pole[30], the circuit breaker housing [18] with support element [36] and mechanism housing [30] is dismantled from operating mechanism [31]. Figure 6 shows assembly of gas circuit breaker pole with novel circuit breaker enclosure with plug and play arrangement.

Vertically mounted interrupter housing has to facilitate support to the pole both at bottom and top side of it. The pole is supported on mechanism housing [30] which is integrated to interrupter housing [18] through support element [36]. Bottom side of pole is supported from interrupter housing [18] with epoxy support insulator [12B] along with support insulator [13]. Top side of pole is guided from housing through epoxy insulator [12A]. Top most port or dismantle port of housing [29A] is used to removed of the pole for maintenance during service. Removal of breaker pole [20] from the circuit breaker assembly can be carried out without dismantling of enclosure [18] by following means:

Isolation of bottom sliding joint after opening the bottom 2 port [29E];
isolation of top sliding joint after opening top 1 port [29B];
Opening of top port [29A];
dismantling of support insulator [13] from support element [36] using the bottom 2 port [29E],
removal of the link pin between insulated operating rod [15] and mechanism terminal [33A].

Using this sequence pole can be taken out from top port or dismantle port [29A] for maintenance or replacement without dismantling GIS bay or grounded enclosure [18]. Alternatively, removal of breaker pole [20] from the circuit breaker assembly can be carried out with dismantling of enclosure [18] by following means:

Isolation of bottom sliding joint after opening the bottom 2 port [29E];
isolation of top sliding joint after opening top 1 port [29B];
Opening of top port or dismantle port [29A];
dismantling of support insulator [13] from support element [36] using the bottom 2 port [29E],
removal of the special coupler [38] between metallic operating rod [34] and metallic rod [31A].

Using this sequence, pole can be taken out from top port [29A] for maintenance or replacement without dismantling GIS bay or grounded enclosure [18]. Figure 7 shows circuit breaker pole removal without dismantling circuit breaker enclosure.
FEATURES OF PRESENT INVENTION

1. A vertically mounted high voltage gas circuit breaker
2. A vertically mounted interrupter with vertically operated drive
3. Profile of novel interrupter housing with specially designed dismantling ports and pole support port.
4. Profile of interrupter housing with optimized ports for maintenance of gas circuit breaker pole and particularly all high voltage parts including contact system.
5. Design/concept of integration of interrupter and operating drive
6. Reduction of number of breaks per pole for circuit breakers of higher voltage class helps to develop vertically mounted breakers.
7. Maintenance of circuit breaker module and its high voltage parts without dismantling the GIS bay.
8. Maintenance of circuit breaker module and its high voltage parts without dismantling the housing of gas circuit breaker.
9. Replacement of circuit breaker pole and contact system without dismantling the GIS bay.
10. Replacement of circuit breaker pole and contact system without dismantling the housing of gas circuit breaker.
11. Self-locking connection from circuit breaker pole to support epoxy insulator of the gas circuit breaker.
12. Provision to isolate interrupter enclosure with interrupter pole from the operating drive.
13. Mechanical support of the interrupter pole through novel interrupter enclosure.
14. Current transfer between circuit breaker pole and support insulator through plug and play arrangement.
15. Plug and play arrangement between circuit breaker pole and epoxy insulator comprising of contact 1 [23], contact 2 [24], contact housing [25], HT insert of insulator [26], sliding joint [27] and stopper [28].
16. Integration of interrupter pole to support insulators of gas circuit breaker through novel sliding joints.
17. Integration of interrupter pole to support insulators of gas circuit breaker through a novel self-locking coupler.
18. Removal of pole from the circuit breaker assembly can be carried out without dismantling of enclosure [18] by following means:
- Isolation of bottom sliding joint after opening the bottom 2 port [29E];
-isolation of top sliding joint after opening top 1 port [29B];
-Opening of top port [29A];
-dismantling of support insulator [13] from support element [36] using the bottom 2 port [29E],
-removal of the link pin between insulated operating rod [15] and mechanism terminal [33A].
Using this sequence, pole can be taken out from top port or dismantle port [29A] for maintenance or replacement without dismantling GIS bay or grounded enclosure [18].
19. Alternatively, removal of pole [30] from the circuit breaker assembly can be carried out with dismantling of enclosure [18] by following means:

- Isolation of bottom sliding joint after opening the bottom 2 port [29E];
-isolation of top sliding joint after opening top 1 port [29B];
- Opening of top port or dismantle port [29A];
- dismantling of support insulator [13] from support element [36] using
the bottom 2 port [29E],
- removal of the special coupler [38] between metallic operating rod [34]
and metallic rod [31A].
20. Using this sequence, pole can be taken out from top port [29A] for maintenance or replacement without dismantling GIS bay or grounded enclosure [18].
Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Also, the various embodiments described herein are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments.

Each of the appended claims defines a separate invention, which for infringement purposes is recognized as including equivalents to the various elements or limitations specified in the claims. Depending on the context, all references below to the "invention" may in some cases refer to certain specific embodiments only. In other cases, it will be recognized that references to the "invention" will refer to subject matter recited in one or more, but not necessarily all, of the claims.

Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all groups used in the appended claims.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particulars claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B”.

The above description does not provide specific details of manufacture or design of the various components. Those of skill in the art are familiar with such details, and unless departures from those techniques are set out, techniques, known, related art or later developed designs and materials should be employed. Those in the art are capable of choosing suitable manufacturing and design details.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into other systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may subsequently be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as encompassed by the following claims.

The claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims:We Claim
1. A Gas insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance comprising of vertically/horizontally mounted interrupter pole(20) and linearly operating drive with coupling element, wherein the interrupter pole (20) includes top pole(dynamic pole) connected to bottom pole(static pole),in which the top pole includes moving arcing contact system [01-05], compression volume [06], thermal volume [07], movable fixed contact system [08], dual motion mechanism [09], housing for exhaust of arced gas [10] and metallic pull tube [11],in which the arcing contacts are mainly fixed movable contact and movable arcing contact and the bottom pole includes support insulator [13], arcing insulator [14], insulated operating rod [15], piston assembly [16] and housing for arced gas exhaust [17],wherein the support insulator [13] is provided to support piston assembly [16] and housing for arced gas exhaust [17],wherein the movable contact system is operated by insulated operating rod (15) and is guided by guide housing(31) located in mechanism housing (30).
2. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claim 1,wherein the socket [01] made of a high conductivity and low erosion material is held on a socket support [02],in which the socket is covered by an insulating shroud [03] made from filled PTFE material, wherein the nozzle [05] is fixed to dynamic current carrying (CC) contact [04] and to the socket contact assembly, in which the socket [01], insulating shroud [03] and current carrying contact [04] form the socket contact assembly, and the top pole is supported from grounded enclosure through epoxy support insulator [12].

3. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the top pole comprises of movable contact assembly [01-05] and second movable contact [08].

4. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 3, wherein the movable arcing contact system comprises of current carrying contact [04] integrated with insulated nozzle [05] and blast cylinder (compression volume [06]),in which the compression volume [06] is isolated from thermal volume [07] with non-returnable valve.
5. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 4,wherein the support insulator [13] is to support high voltage connection (second terminal) of circuit breaker, in which said support insulator [13] has two terminals including high voltage terminal and grounded terminal, wherein the insulated operating rod [15] is located coaxially inside support insulator [13] that, electrostatic field across insulating operating rod [15] is lowest in all the possible positions of the drive (both open, close and during close-open).
6. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 5,wherein the arcing insulator [14] is supported by the support insulator [13],in which the arcing insulator [14] supports fixed current carrying contact system [08] and guides the moving contact system [01-05],wherein the piston which creates pressure in compression cylinder [06] is connected to housing [17] through which movable arcing system [01-05] is guided and the housing [17] facilitates the discharge of arced gas and supports / guides the bottom pole from circuit breaker grounded enclosure [18] through epoxy insulator [12B].
7. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claim 1 comprising adjustable coupling [19]from breaker pole to terminals of breaker[20],in which the coupling element[19] is adjustable in both directions and transfers current from/to the circuit breaker pole[20],wherein the coupling element [19] comprises of cylindrical member of rotatable type with current transfer contacts [20],in which the coupling transfers current from dual motion mechanism housing of top pole [09] or housing for arced gas exhaust [17] to epoxy insulator [12B], in which the coupling element [19] comprises of self-locking element [21] which is used to extend high voltage connection from circuit breaker pole [20] to epoxy insulator [12] through novel plug and play arrangement [22],wherein the plug and play arrangement[22] comprising of contact 1[23],contact 2[24],contact housing[25],HT insert of insulator[26],sliding joint[27] and stopper[28].

8. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 7,wherein the interrupter pole [20] is supported at top through epoxy insulator [12A] and the bottom pole [20 B] of interrupter is supported from mechanism housing [23] as well as at bottom port 1 [29D] through epoxy insulator [12B].
9. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 8,wherein contact 1 is fixed to support insulator [12] and contact 2 [24] is fixed to circuit breaker pole with a sliding joint [27] which slides between contact 1 [23] and contact 2 [24], contact 1 [23] is placed in contact housing [25] and contact housing acts as current transfer joint between contact 1 [23] and support insulator HT insert [26],in which the contact housing [25] meets the requirement of high voltage shield to achieve uniform field across support insulator [12],wherein the design of contact 1 [23] and contact housing [25] are that, the sliding joint [27] is moved inside contact housing [25] to the contact 1 [23] level.
10. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 9,wherein the sliding joint [27] comprises of multiple shields [27B] covering from either side to achieve uniform electric field around it and to move the sliding joint [27] from integrated to isolated position an opening [29D, 29C] is provided in the housing [18] opposite to the support insulator holder [29E, 29 B], the opening forms a bottom port 2 [29E],wherein the circuit breaker housing [18] has total six ports [29A-29E], top port / pole dismantling port [29A] is to remove pole [20] from housing [18],Pole support port [29F] is to integrate to mechanism housing [30] for integration to operating mechanism [31], top port 1 [29B] acts as dismantling port and top port 2 [29C] acts as a holder for support insulator [12],in which the bottom port 1 [29D] acts as holder for support insulator and bottom port 2 [29E] acts as dismantling port.
11. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 10,wherein the insulated operating rod [15] is connected from movable contact system through metallic pull tube [11] which is used to exhaust hot arced gas, primarily the movable contact system with metallic pull tube [11] is guided through piston housing and piston support [16A],wherein the insulated operating rod [15] is connected to operating drive [32] through mechanism terminal [33A] and adapter [33] which has provision for guiding the insulated operating rod [15],wherein the adapter [33] is a circular plate and has Teflon/insulated ring [33A] to move against guide housing [31],wherein the circular plate / adapter [33] has slots to communicate gas from interrupter to operating drive side and the slot area is so high that gas pressure does not build under the adapter [33] during opening operation.
12. The gas - insulated circuit breaker with improved interrupting performance as claimed in claims 1- 11,wherein the circuit breaker assembly is divided into circuit breaker pole [20], mechanism housing [30] to support circuit breaker pole and acts as an interface between circuit breaker housing [18] and supporting element [36] through mechanism housing [30],in which mechanism housing [30] is connected to operating drive [32] through distance piece [37] to accommodate metallic operating rod [34] between insulated operating rod [15] and vertically moving mechanism shaft through a special coupler [38], the insulated operating rod [15] connected to metallic rod [31A] through adapter [33] and mechanism terminal [33A] is clamped to operating rod [34] of drive [32] through a special Coupler [38] which can adjust misalignment.