Method of busway construction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9281674-B2
Application number	US-201213666390-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2012
Priority date	Nov 1, 2012
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

A busway and a method of assembling the same in which a flowable, uncured epoxy is applied between insulated busbar conductors that are stacked on top of one another and inner surfaces of the busway housing into which the stacked conductors are placed to form an enclosed busway. The busbar conductors are insulated by an epoxy powder coat, which can develop pinholes during the curing of the epoxy powder. A flowable, curable dielectric material, such as epoxy, is applied between the outermost busbar conductors and the inner surfaces of the top and bottom pieces of the busway housing. Optionally, epoxy is also applied between adjacent pairs of busbar conductors, which are stacked and arranged into the housing. Pressure is applied to the housing stack, and the epoxy is allowed to cure, resulting in a busway having superior thermal performance, dielectric integrity, and mechanical strength compared to conventional busways.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of assembling a busway, comprising:
providing a first insulated busbar conductor having a first electrically insulating coat surrounding at least a section of the first conductor;
applying an amount of flowable dielectric material to either or both of (1) a major flat surface of the first insulating coat of the first conductor and (2) an inner surface of a first piece of a housing of the busway;
installing the first conductor into the housing such that the major flat surface abuts the inner surface of the first piece of the housing; and
responsive to the installing, applying a pressure to compress the first piece of the housing and the first conductor together to cause only the applied flowable dielectric material to be interposed between the inner surface of the first piece of the housing and the outer surface of the first insulating coat of the first conductor,
wherein the applied flowable dielectric material flows when the pressure is applied.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
arranging in a stacked relationship the first conductor and a second insulated busbar conductor having a second electrically insulating coat surrounding at least a section of the second busbar conductor,
wherein, responsive to the arranging, the applying the pressure operates to compress the first and second conductors together to cause the dielectric material to be interposed between the major flat surface of the first insulating coat and a major flat surface of the second insulating coat that opposes the major flat surface of the first insulating coat.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the dielectric material is an epoxy adhesive, the method further comprising allowing the epoxy adhesive to set to form an adhesive bond between the first and second conductors to resist forces produced by a short circuit that repel the first and second conductors away from one another.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
applying an amount of the dielectric material between either or both of (1) a major flat surface of the second insulating coat or a major flat surface of a further insulating coat of a further insulated busbar conductor and (2) an inner surface of a second piece of the housing of the busway; and
installing the second piece over the second conductor or the further conductor,
wherein the applying the pressure operates to compress the second piece of the housing and the second conductor or the further conductor together to cause the dielectric material to be interposed between the major flat surface of the second insulating coat or the further insulating coat and an inner surface of the second piece of the housing.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first piece of the housing is a top of the housing, and the second piece of the housing is a bottom of the housing, the method further comprising installing a side piece of the housing along respective side edges of the first and second busbar conductors and between the first and second pieces of the housing.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
applying to a major flat surface of a third electrically insulating coat that surrounds at least a section of a third busbar conductor an amount of the flowable dielectric material,
wherein the stacked relationship includes the third conductor, and
wherein the pressure is applied to compress the first, second, and third conductors together to interpose the dielectric material between the second and third conductors.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein each of the first, second, and third conductors is configured to carry mutually distinct phases of electrical current.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising, responsive to compressing the first, second, and third conductors together, installing the first, second, and third conductors as an assembly into the housing of the busway.

9. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, responsive to applying the pressure, installing the first and second conductors into the housing of the busway.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the insulating coat of the first conductor is made from an epoxy powder.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the busway is assembled without identifying, in the insulating coat of the first conductor, or repairing holes that formed during application of the insulating coat on the first conductor, wherein the holes in the insulating coat of the first conductor are at least partially filled or completely covered by the dielectric material.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein a temperature rise of the busway when electrical current is supplied through the first busbar conductor is lower compared to a temperature rise of a busway that is identically configured but lacks the dielectric material and the first piece of the housing.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material is applied, according to a pattern, substantially uniformly along at least most of a length of the major flat surface having an elongate form.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern includes a substantially straight line running along at least most of the length of the major flat surface substantially in a center of a width of the major flat surface.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern includes a pattern of non-intersecting occurrences of the dielectric material spaced along at least most of the length of the major flat surface.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the pattern of non-intersecting occurrences resembles a dot-like pattern.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern includes a plurality of substantially parallel lines running along at least most of the length of the major flat surface across most of a width of the major flat surface.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern includes a cross pattern having multiple lines that intersect one another at least once along the at least most of the length of the major flat surface.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern is applied using a nozzle that outputs a bead of the dielectric material.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the busway is of a plug-in or a feeder type.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material is one of uncured epoxy or grease.

Assignees

• Schneider Electric Usa Inc

Inventors

• Walgenbach Jacob E
• Ramsey James Raymond
• O'Leary Timothy P
• Mccrocklin Thomas Patrick

Classifications

• H02G5/06 Primary

  Totally-enclosed installations, e.g. in metal casings · CPC title

• H02G5/10

  Cooling · CPC title

• B29C65/48

  using adhesives {, i.e. using supplementary joining material; solvent bonding} · CPC title

• B32B15/20

  comprising aluminium or copper {(B32B15/016 and B32B15/017 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B29C66/45

  Joining of substantially the whole surface of the articles (methods or apparatus for laminating B32B37/00) · CPC title