A circuit breaker tripping mechanism providing relatively low instantaneous level tripping is disclosed. Circuit breaker tripping mechanism includes an armature with a first portion extending in a first direction from an armature pivot and a second portion extending in a second direction from the armature pivot, and a magnetic field generator configured as part of a line conductor. Magnetic field generator is operable to produce a magnetic field acting upon the second portion during a short circuit. Circuit breakers including the circuit breaker tripping mechanism and methods of tripping a circuit breaker are provided, as are other aspects.

A jumper is for an electrical switching apparatus having a plurality of poles. Each of the poles comprises a terminal. The terminal of a first one of the poles is proximate the terminal of a second one of the poles. The jumper includes a jumper member having an attachment portion and a heat sink portion. The attachment portion is structured to electrically connect the terminal of the first one of the poles to the terminal of the second one of the poles. The heat sink portion includes a plurality of spaced apart heat transfer members that are arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns.

Circuit breakers based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) switches are described. A high voltage MEMS teeter-totter switch can include a beam coupled to an anchor on a substrate and two control electrodes, disposed on a surface of the substrate. A control voltage applied on one of the control electrodes with respect to a first reference voltage puts one of the two ends of the beam in electric contact with one of two contact electrodes of the MEMS teeter-totter switch to electrical connected two terminals of a circuit breaker. The input voltage is applied on the beam with respect to a second reference voltage different from the first reference voltage. A MEMS teeter-totter switch network comprises a plurality of MEMS teeter-totter switches configured to switch high voltage and high current between the two terminals of the circuit breaker.

A high voltage circuit-breaker comprising a housing defining a volume for an insulating gas, at least two making and breaking (M&B) units arranged therein, each M&B unit comprising a first and second contact element for forming an electrically conductive connection, at least the first contact element is movable along an axially extending switching axis of the high voltage circuit-breaker, and the first contact elements of the at least two M&B units are motion-coupled; a drive device connected to the first contact element of at least one M&B unit and configured for moving the first contact element along the switching axis over a moving distance for separating conductive connections; and a gas damper connected to the first contact element of the at least one M&B unit and configured for damping movement of the first contact element with a damping force increasing in relation to the moving distance.

An automatic transfer switch for use with an electrical power distribution system to control the delivery of power to a load during a switching event from a primary power source to a secondary power source. A high-amperage automatic transfer switch (HA-ATS) according to embodiments of this disclosure can have a control circuit that is powered by either or both of the primary and secondary power sources. In some cases, a HA-ATS according to this disclosure does not have a separate redundant power source (e.g., a generator, battery, UPS, capacitor bank, etc.) to provide power to the control circuit of the HA-ATS. In some cases, a HA-ATS according to this disclosure can be configured to be agnostic to characteristics of an input power source while providing an appropriate power signal to the control circuit of the HA-ATS.

An exhaust gas module for an electrical switch, which has outlets for switching gases on its output side and/or its input side. The exhaust gas module can be mounted on the electrical switch, such that the switching gases are directed into an exhaust gas channel of the exhaust gas module. The exhaust gas channel deflects the switching gases substantially at a right angle and the exhaust gas channel can cooperate in a modular manner with a neighboring exhaust gas channel of a neighboring exhaust gas module in order to bring together the deflected exhaust gases.

Thermal management structures and techniques are provided for cooling solid-state circuit breakers. For example, a circuit breaker comprises an integrated heat sink which is configured to absorb and dissipate heat from electronic components of the circuit breaker using a combination of conduction and convection.