A vacuum interrupter for a vacuum circuit breaker is disclosed, in which a center shield is arranged between an upper insulating envelope and a lower insulating envelope, whereby the center shield is not provided inside each of the insulating envelopes and thus outer diameters of the respective insulating envelopes are reduced.

A shield element for a vacuum interrupter for installation between an electrically conductive wall element and an electrically insulating wall element of a vacuum interrupter includes a connection region, a shield inner region and a shield outer region. The shield outer region can be disposed outside of and the shield inner region can be disposed within the vacuum interrupter. The connection region has a first structure and a second structure which prevent the formation of mechanical stresses after soldering of the vacuum interrupter. A vacuum interrupter, a method for producing a shield element and a method for producing a vacuum interrupter are also provided.

A make contact system for high-voltage applications includes a vacuum switching tube having two switch contacts in the form of plate contacts, of which at least one is a moving contact coupled to a drive. At least one plate contact is rotationally symmetrically surrounded by a shielding element, and the shielding element has an electric conductivity which is less than 40×10.sup.−6 S/m.

A vacuum interrupter (1) is equipped with a vacuum container (2) and a fixed electrode (3) and a movable electrode (4), which are provided in the vacuum container (2). The vacuum container (2) is constructed by hermetically joining a fixed-side end plate (6) to one end portion of an insulating tube (5) and by hermetically joining a movable-side end plate (7) to the other end portion of the insulating tube (5). The insulating tube (5) is equipped at its end portion with a projection portion (5a) that projects in an axial direction of the insulating tube (5) along an outer periphery of the insulating tube (5). The insulating tube (5) is equipped at its end portion with an end plate joining portion (5b) that projects from a base end portion of the projection portion (5a) in an inner peripheral direction of the insulating tube (5). The end plate joining portion (5b) is equipped on its surface with a metallized layer (8) to which the fixed-side end plate (6) (or the movable-side end plate (7)) is joined by brazing. The metallized layer (8) is equipped with a joining portion (8a) that extends in a radial direction of the insulating tube (5), and an extension portion (8b) that extends in an axial direction of the insulating tube (5) from an end portion of the joining portion (8a) on an inner peripheral side of the insulating tube (5).

A make contact system for high-voltage applications includes a vacuum switching tube having two switch contacts in the form of plate contacts, of which at least one is a moving contact coupled to a drive. At least one plate contact is rotationally symmetrically surrounded by a shielding element, and the shielding element has an electric conductivity which is less than 40×10.sup.−6 S/m.

A shield element for a vacuum interrupter for installation between an electrically conductive wall element and an electrically insulating wall element of a vacuum interrupter includes a connection region, a shield inner region and a shield outer region. The shield outer region can be disposed outside of and the shield inner region can be disposed within the vacuum interrupter. The connection region has a first structure and a second structure which prevent the formation of mechanical stresses after soldering of the vacuum interrupter. A vacuum interrupter, a method for producing a shield element and a method for producing a vacuum interrupter are also provided.

A vacuum circuit breaker comprising a vacuum interrupter (12) coupled between upper (18) and lower (20) terminals and being operable to make or break an electrical connection between the upper and lower terminals. The circuit breaker has a body 22 formed from electrically insulating material, the vacuum interrupter being located in an internal chamber of the body. The circuit breaker body is arranged to provide an isosceles triangle between the upper (C) and lower (A) terminal connection interfaces. This allows the same design of both upper and lower external connectors 80, 82. A pulling rod (16) coupled to the vacuum interrupter comprises a core (70) of heat-resistant plastic co-moulded with a shell (72) formed from impact resistant plastic.

A vacuum circuit breaker 10 comprising a vacuum interrupter 12 coupled between upper 18 and lower 20 terminals and being operable to make or break an electrical connection between the upper and lower terminals. The circuit breaker has a body 22 formed from electrically insulating material, the vacuum interrupter being located in an internal chamber of the body. The lower terminal 20 comprises a hollow body 26 that forms part of the internal chamber and which is shaped and dimensioned to allow the vacuum interrupter 12 to pass through it. An electrical connector device 50 has a movable part 52 that is connected to the movable contact and an annular fixed part 54 that is connected to the lower terminal 20. The movable part 52 is connected to the first part 54 by flexible connectors 56, and has a socket (58) for engaging an electrical connector 60 of the vacuum interrupter 12. A pulling rod 16 is coupled to the movable contact via the electrical connector 60.

A vacuum interrupter according to the present invention includes: a vacuum container formed by two insulation containers each having an opening at one end thereof, the openings being opposed to each other; a pair of electrodes provided inside the vacuum container; and an arc shield having a contamination preventing portion surrounding the electrodes, and projections projecting in a direction along an outer circumferential surface of the contamination preventing portion, the arc shield being positioned by the projections being engaged with the openings.

A ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters extends along a longitudinal extent and forms a cavity in said longitudinal extent. The cavity has a first opening on a first end of the longitudinal extent and a second opening on a second end of the longitudinal extent. The openings are designed so that they can be sealed in a gas-tight manner using appropriate connections. The sealed first opening is designed to guide at least one fixed contact into the cavity, and the sealed second opening is designed to guide at least one moving contact into the cavity. The ceramic insulator has, on an inner face of the cavity, one or multiple electrically conductive discharge path interrupters extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of the ceramic insulator.