US2890393A - Self seal-in a. c. operated relay - Google Patents

Description

R. J., coPPoLA 1 sm' SEAL-IN A. OPERATED RELAY June 9, 1959 Filed larch 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Shut 1 Fig. 1

Fig. 3

-34 POWER SOURCE LOAD INVHVTOR. RICHARD J. COPPOLA.

June 9, 1959 R. J. COPPOLA saw SEAL-IN A.C. OPERATED RELAY I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Filed larch 5, 1956 INVENTOR. RICHARD J. COPPOLA LOAD POWER SOURCE A'T rorauwgvi United States Patent SELF SEAL-IN A.C. OPERATE-D RELAY Richard J. Coppola, Levittown, Pa.

Application March 5, 1956, Serial No. 569,663

9 Claims. (Cl. 317-156) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266} The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes Without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

The present invention relates to a self seal-in A.C. operated relay and more particularly to an A.C. relay that will operate from polyphase A.C. power controlled from one phase of this power source.

A present arrangement for a polyphase A.C. operated relay consists of the use of polyphase transmission lines to the operating coils. If three coils are used, three wires and a three-pole switch must be employed to control the On and Off positions of the relay.

The aforementioned arrangement requires multipole control switches and the use of more than one wire to the control coils of the relay. This is a construction which is relatively expensive and especially disadvantage ous when the relay is to be used aboard aircraft or other mobile type equipment where size and weight are critical factors.

The present arrangement utilizes a plurality of stationary C cores, each provided with a matching core mounted for rotation. Each pair of stationary and movable cores is provided at the air gap with a coil supplied with a voltage from a diiferent phase from that of the next coil. One of said coils is connected directly, through a switch, to the power source, while the remaining coil orcoils are connected through the relay contacts to the powersource. The movable cores are joined together to form a single armature which is arranged to close the relay contacts upon closing the air gaps between movable and stationary cores. By closing said switch, the armature is caused to close for an instant. This energizes the remaining coils and insures fluxes in these cores thereby maintaining the relay in its actuated position. In this way the relay operates from polyphase A.C. power through the use of only one line from one phase.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a polyphase relay operable and controlled from single phase A.C. power.

Another object is to provide a polyphase A.C. relay which is simple in construction and highly resistant to shock and high frequency vibration.

A further. object of the invention is the provision of a polyphase relay controlled from single phase A.C. power having a pickup coil for initially actuating the relay and a seal-in coil for locking the relay in the actuated position.

Still another object is to provide a polyphase A.C. relay utilizing one phase for initially actuating the relay and the. other phases for maintaining said relay in its actuated position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the annexed drawings wherein:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show, schematically, a preferred embodiment of the invention.

2,890,393 Patented June 9, 1959 Fig. 4 shows voltage vectors of the power source explaining the principle of operation of the invention of Figs. 1-3.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 illustrate an alternate arrangement of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts'throughout the several views, there is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 one preferred form of the relay. Fig. 1 shows the 0, cores 10, 12, 14 and 16 mounted in a manner to be described. Cores 10 and 16 are stationary and may be mounted by any conventional means directly on a supporting plate 18. The aforementioned cores may be of any suitable type including that described in my application Serial No. 560,467, filed January 20, 1956. Cores 12 and 14 are joined together at their common surface 20 forming an armature 13 mounted for rotation on a shaft element 22 which is directly connected to plate 18. An insulating layer may be placed along surface 20 separating the two cores 12 and 14. Aspring 24 orany other means may be selected for providing bias for armature 13 in its deactivated position against stop element 26. A pair of coils I and I are mounted across the air gaps between respective cores 10, 12 and 14, 16 for inducing flux into the core and armature elements. It will be noted that core pairs 10, 12 and 14, 16 provide a pair of complete magnetic circuits 15 and 17', as illustrated in Fig. 3. Armature 13 is also provided with a bracket 28 for hingedly connecting a rod element 31?, which, as shown in Fig. 2, is connected to a multipole switch 32.

As shown in Fig. 2, power source 34 provides threephase power through lines A, B and C, respectively, to load 39. Multipole switch 32 comprises a series of con tacts 35, 36 and37 for closing. the connection between the source and the load ends of three-phase lines A, B and C. Switch 32 also includes a fourth contact 38 which closes an electrical connection across phase lines, B and C through seal-in coil 1 for reasons to be further explained. Between line A on the power source side of contact 35 and ground is provided a control switch 40 for energizing pickup coil 1 Fig. 3 illustrates the coil and armature arrangement of Fig. 1 upon activation of the relay, which is described below.

The relay of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 functions as follows: Closing control switch 40 energizes pickup coil 1 with phase voltage V pulling armature 13 in the direction of the arrow shown at the upper air gap. This acts with a pulsating torqueproduced by the alternating flux in the upper closed loop magnetic circuit 15. As soon as switch 32 closes sufiiciently by the. motion of armature 13 to thereby switch. power source 34 to load 39, the line voltage m across transmission lines B and C, which is out of phase withv the phase voltage V across A and ground, is applied to seal-in coil. I This results in a second attractive pulsating torque at the lower air gap produced by the alternating flux 17 in the lower closed loop magnetic circuit. The torque derived from coil 1 seals in or maintains the requisite contact pressure for switch 32. With proper design, coils I and I produce equal pulsating forces or torques at both air gaps resulting in a constant, non-pulsating, armature torque, which is the vector sum of the two individual torques produced by each closed loop magnetic circuit.

Fig. 4 shows vectors V V and V, representing the voltages A, Band C, respectively, of the power source.

The vector V represents the voltage in line A which coils I and I; are reached 90 apart in phase, thereby providing at all times a field on armature 13 maintaining it in its closed position as long as both coils I and 1 are energized.

In order to deactivate the relay, control switch 40 is opened resulting in the deenergization of pickup coil I This will reduce the developed armature torque to a pulsating value having an average value of one-half the original constant armature torque. The pulsating torque will permit breaking of the contacts in switch 32 and the subsequent deenergization of seal-in coil I The relay will stay in this position until control switch 40 is closed again. Contact 38 is a safety feature designed to prevent reflections from load 39 from energizing coil I when the relay is deactivated.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show an alternate arrangement utilizing three pairs of C cores and three coils. Referring to Fig. 5, movable cores 52, 54 and 56 are mounted on a shaft 58 while means such as a plate 60 may be utilized to insure that the cores move in unison as a rigid armature structure 62. Stationary cores 64, 66 and 68 are provided to match their respective movable cores as described in connection with Fig. l. Coils I 1., and I are provided across the air gaps in the same manner as is described in connection with Fig. 1. (not shown) for maintaining armature 62 in its position of Fig. 5 when not activated, and stop means (not shown) for limiting the deactivated position of armature 62 may be provided by any means well known to those skilled in the art. Fig. 6 shows a multipole switch 70 having an arm 72 which may be connected in any conventional manner, such as shown in Fig. 1, to armature 62. Coils I I and I are connected to transmission lines B, C, and A, respectively.

In the operation of this embodiment, when switch 74 is closed, pick-up coil I upon reaching its maximum pulse, closes armature 62 in the direction of the arrow shown, thereby resulting in the instantaneous closing of multipole switch 70. This provides the power to the load through lines A, B and C and also acts to energize coils I and I It will be noted that since each of the coils is connected between a single transmission line and a mutual ground point, each coil receives voltages V,,, V V,,, respectively, as shown in Fig. 4. It will be seen that these vectors are 120 apart in phase, thereby providing for an equal voltage at each of the coils spread equally 120 apart. The average developed torque of this arrangement runs approximately 50 percent greater than the average torque produced as a result of the arrangement of voltage vectors in the arrangement of Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Thus, this arrangement would be highly resistant to shock and vibration tending to knock armature 62 out of its energized position.

It will be seen that the inventive relay described above is advantageous in many ways. The relay utilizes a single pole switch for the actuation and control of the relay and single wire transmission between the switch and relay. The construction of the inventive relay enjoys the advantages of polyphase operated devices without sacrificing the advantages of simplified controls of single phase devices. Also, a reduced drop-out voltage results from this construction as would be encountered when the three-phase system voltage drops under system fault conditions.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that with in the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a contact in each phase Bias means line of said transmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein each said contact is open and a second, energized position closing each said contact, stationary core means forming with said armature at least two magnetic circuits, wherein flux induced tends to urge said armature from said first position into its said second position, first means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means including a switch which upon closing connects said first means directly to one phase of said power source for inducing flux in said first magnetic circuit causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing each said contact, second means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second of said magnetic circuits, and means connecting said second means to another phase of said power source through the contact therein when closed for inducing flux in said second magnetic circuit thereby sealing said armature in its energized position by providing continuous flux inducement in said armature.

2. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, switch means in each line of said transmission system movable with said armature, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein each said switch means is open and a second, energized position closing each said switch means, stationary core means forming with said armature at least two magnetic circuits, wherein induced flux urges said armature from said first position into its said second position, first coil means adjacent said core means capable of inducing fiux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means selectively connecting said first coil means directly to one phase of said power source for inducing flux in said first magnetic circuit causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing each said switch means, second coil means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second of said magnetic circuits, and means connecting said second coil means to anchor phase of said power source through the switch means therein when closed for inducing flux in said second magnetic circuit thereby sealing said armature in its energized position by providing continuous flux inducement in said armature.

3. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a contact in each phase line of said transmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein each said contact is open and a second, energized position wherein each said contact is closed and provides an unbroken circuit, stationary core means forming with said armature at least two magnetic circuits, wherein flux induced tends to urge said armature from said first position into its said second position, a first coil adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means including a switch which upon closing connects said coil directly to one phase of said power source for inducing flux in said first magnetic circuit causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing each said contact, a second coil adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second of said magnetic circuits, and means connecting said second coil to another phase of said power source through the contact therein when closed for inducing flux in said second magnetic circuit thereby sealing said armature in its energized position by providing continuous flux inducement in said armature.

4. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a contact in each phase line of said transmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein each said contact means is open and a second, energized position wherein each said contact means is closed, stationary core means forming with said armature at least two magnetic circuits, wherein flux induced tends to urge said armature from said first position into its said second position, first means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, switch means upon closing for connecting said coil directly to one phase of said power source for inducing flux in said first magnetic circuit causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing each said contact, second means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second of said magnetic circuits, means connecting said second means to another phase of said power source through the contact therein when closed for inducing flux in said second magnetic circuit thereby sealing said armature in its energized position by providing continuous flux inducement in said armature, and said contact means provided with another contact in said last named connecting means for preventing reflections from said load from energizing said relay when said switch means is open.

5. The relay of claim 4 in which said contact means consists of each of said contacts ganged to close and open in unison upon movement of said armature.

6. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a plurality of contacts at least one of which is in each line of said tranmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein said contacts are open, and a second, energized position closing said contacts, stationary core means forming with said armature a pair of independent magnetic circuits wherein flux induced urges said armature from said first position to said second position, first coil means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means including a switch which upon closing connects said first coil means to one phase of said power source on the power side of said contact means for inducing said flux and causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing said contacts, second coil means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second of said magnetic circuits, and means connecting said second coil means between the second and third phases of said power source on the load side of said contact means thereby energizing said second coil means upon said armature being moved into its said second position.

7. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a plurality of contacts at least one of which is in each line of said transmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein said contacts are open, and a second, energized position closing said contacts, stationary core means forming with said armature a pair of independent magnetic circuits wherein flux induced urges said arma ture from said first position to said second position, first coil means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means including a switch which upon closing connects said first coil means to one phase of said power source on the power side of said contact means for inducing said flux and causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing said contacts, second coil means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second of said magnetic circuits, means connecting said second coil means between the second and third phases of said power source on the load side of said contact means thereby energizing said second coil means upon said armature being moved into its said second position, and said contact means provided with an additional contact in said last named connecting means to prevent energization of said relay due to reflections from said load.

8. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a contact in each line of said transmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein each said contact is open, and a second, energized position closing each said contact, stationary core means forming with said armature three independent magnetic circuits wherein flux induced therein urges said armature from said first position to said second position, means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means including a switch which upon closing connects said coil directly to one phase of said power source for inducing said fiux and causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing each said contact, second and third coils adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second and third of said magnetic circuits, respectively, and means connecting said second and third coils to second and third phases, respectively, of said power source on the load side of the respective contacts in each phase closed by movement of said armature, thereby sealing said armature in its second, energized position.

9. A self seal-in relay for use in a polyphase transmission system between a power source and a load, comprising, a movable armature, contact means movable with said armature including a contact in each line of said transmission system, said armature movable between a first, normal position wherein each said contact is open, and a second, energized position closing each said contact, stationary core means forming with said armature three independent magnetic circuits wherein flux induced therein urges said armature from said first position to said second position, means adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the first of said magnetic circuits, means including a switch which upon closing connects said coil directly to one phase of said power source for inducing said flux and causing rotation of said armature into said second position closing each said contact, second and third coils adjacent said core means capable of inducing flux into the second and third of said magnetic circuits, respectively, means connecting said second and third coils to second and third phases, respectively, of said power source on the load side of the respective contacts in each phase closed by movement of said armature, thereby sealing said armature in its second, energized position, and said contact means also including safety contacts in said last-named connecting means to prevent energization of said relay due to feedback from said load while said relay is deactivated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 969,809 Simon Sept. 13, 1910 2,426,062 Sonnemann Aug. 19, 1947 2,591,520 De Fligue Apr. 1, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 512,735 Great Britain Sept. 25, 1939 1,059,953 France Mar. 30, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent NOD 2,890,393 June 9, 1959 Richard J Coppola It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should readas corrected below.

Column 2, line 71, for "voltage vector V read w voltage vestor V column 4, line 39', for "anchor" read another Signed and sealed this 29th day ofIvIarch 19600 (SEAL) Attest:

KARL Ha AXLINE ROBERT (J. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CEBTIFIQATE OF CORRECTION Patent Non 2,890,393

June 9, 1959 Richard J a Coppola It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

'r Column 2, line '71, for "voltage vector V read voltege ves tor V column 4, line 39, for "anchor" read another Signed and sealed this 29th day ofivlerch 1960.,

SEAL) Attest:

KARL Ha AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

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