US3046327A - Corona ball - Google Patents

Description

July 24, 1962 R. w. HARMON 3,046,327

CORONA BALL Filed June 10, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 6 INVENTOR.

ROBERT W. HARMO/V ATTORNEY July 24, 1962 R. w. HARMON 3, ,3

CORONA BALL Filed June 10. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ROBERT m HARMO/V A TTOR/VE) United States Patent Office 3,046,327 Patented July 24, 1962 3,646,327 CORONA BALL Robert W. Harmon, Doylestown, Ohio, assignor to The Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 10, 1959, Ser. No. 819,424 8 Claims. (Cl. 174-73) This invention relates to anti-corona apparatus and, particularly, to a corona ball for high voltage electrical conductors.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a corona ball for high voltage electrical conductors which is adapted for installation and removal while the line is energized.

The invention, together with the features, objects and advantages thereof, will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailed specification and claims, taken in connection with the appended drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the corona ball of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view shoWing the organization of the corona ball during installation thereof on a transmission line conductor.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the organization of the corona ball when installation is complete;

FIG. 4 is an end View and FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the corona ball of the invention prior to installation thereof;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the corona ball taken in the direction 6-6 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the corona ball taken in the direction 77 in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is an end view partly broken away showing an alternate embodiment of the corona ball of the invention.

Referring first to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the corona ball 10 is constituted as a substantially spherical metal body, formed in two parts, indicated at 11 and 12, together with a screw fastener 13. The body parts 11 and 12 are formed as shells having a substantially smooth polished exterior and with circular recesses 14 and 15 for receiving an electrical conductor 16 constituted by a cable 17 and armor rods 18.

The corona ball 10 is secured to the conductor 16 by the clamping action exerted between the two body parts 11 and 12 and by the fastener screw 13. The body of the ball provides a smooth electrical transition between the armor rods 18 and the cable 17 and eliminates the electrical discontinuity which would otherwise tend to produce corona discharges when the conductor 16 is energized at high voltages. The corona ball 10 serves, additionally, as a mechanical clamping means for restraining the ends of the armor rods 18.

As shown, particularly in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the body part 11 is formed substantially as a three-quarter sphere having perpendicular faces 19 and 20 disposed parallel to planes perpendicularly through a longitudinal axis co-axially through the openings 14 and 15. The body part 12 is formed substantially as a quarter sphere and has perpendicular faces 21 and 22 which join the faces 19 and 20 when the parts are in assembled relation to produce a substantially spherical exterior.

The body part 11 is formed with a tongue 23 which extends from the interior wall of the body part 11,'opposite the open part thereof, outwardly from the face 19. The tongue 23 is formed with a threaded opening 24 which is directed in a diametral direction, in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ball, and receives the screw fastener 13. The body part 12 is, accordingly, attached to the body part 11 by tightening the screw fastener 13 in the opening 24 so as to bring the faces 21 and 22 of the part 12 against the faces 19 and 20, respectively, of the body part 11. Alternatively, the parts may be so dimensioned that the tongue 23 is effective as a stop. In either circumstance, a suflicient clamping force should be exerted between the body parts and the cable 17 and armor rods 18.

The arrangement of the screw fastener 13, the tongue 23 and the opening 24 is of some importance since the head 25 of the fastener 13 is symmetrically related to the external surface of the body part 12. The head 25 is received in a recess 26 formed in the outer surface of the body part 12 so that the outer face of the head 25 is flush with the exterior surface of the body part; Due to a rounding of the head 25, the electrical discontinuity at the peripheral extremities of the head and of the recess 26 is minimized.

The body part 11 and the tongue 23 have the adjacent parts 27 and 28 configured to receive the parts of the conductor 16 during assembly and disassembly of the apparatus. Particularly, the tapered portion of the body part 11, indicated at 27, facilitates assembly of the corona ball on an energized transmission line conductor, since the body part 12 may be positioned, as shown in FIG. 4, by hand, and installation completed by turning the part 12 and tightening the fastener 13. Additionally, the tongue serves to facilitate installation since it serves as a longitudinal positioning means, abutting the armor rods 18, during installation.

It will be evident that the corona ball may be easily installed on or removed from an energized power line by use of hot-line tools. In order to install the corona ball, only a grasping means for positioning and holding the body part 11 on the conductor and a screw driver for positioning the cover 12 and tightening the screw 13 are required. The corona ball may be removed by loosening the screw 13.

The corona ball 10 may be formed of any suitable material having good electrical conductivity and a low corrosive rate, such as aluminum. Any convenient manufacturing operations may be employed and the tongue 23 may be formed as an integral part of the body part 11 or separately therefrom.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 8, the corona ball 30 is formed with two hemispherical body parts 31 and 32 with two circular recesses 34 and 35 at the ends of the body for receiving the conductor. The tongue 33 extends arcuately from the body part 31 about the conductor opening defined by the recesses 34 and 35 and has the body part 32 attached thereto by means of a screw fastener '36. Installation or removal of the corona ball 30 ordinarily requires disassembly of the two parts 31 and 32.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description is not intended to restrict the scope of the invention and that various rearrangements of the parts and modifications of the design may be resorted to. The following claims are directed to combinations of elements which embody the invention or inventions of this application.

Iclaim:

1. A corona device for an electrical conductor comprising a hollow metal body having two complementary exterior surface defining parts with a common longitudinal axis and cooperating adjoining faces, recesses in the said parts at opposed extremities thereof along the said axis for receiving the conductor, a tongale extending outward from a face of one of the said parts and within the remaining part, with adjacent portions of the tongue and the remaining face of the said one part spaced apart on opposite sides of the recesses to receive the conductor when the complementary parts are separated and a screw fastener received through an opening in the remaining said part and threaded into the said tongue, all for assembly of the said two parts upon the conductor by turning movement of the screw fastener.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1 in which the body is substantially the sphere, the said remaining part has an extent somewhat greater than one-fourth of the circumference in a plane perpendicular to the axis, and the screw fastener is directed along a line perpendicularly through the said axis midway between the axial extremities of the body for pivotal movement of the said remaining part on the screw fastener to expose the recesses.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1 in which the body is substantially a sphere and each part extends equally about the axis in a plane perpendicular to the axis, and the screw fastener is directed along a line through the said axis perpendicular to the plane of the faces of the parts.

4. A corona device for an electrical conductor comprising a generally spherical metal shell formed in two parts, one part thereof constituted as a circumferential part having a common longitudinal axis with the remaining part, and the two parts having cooperating and adjoining faces and recesses at opposed extremities of the said parts coaxial with the longitudinal axis for receiving the conductor, a tongue extending circumferentially from a face of one of the parts and circumferentially into the said remaining part with adjacent portions of the tongue and the remaining face of the said one part spaced apart on opposite sides of the recesses to receive the conductor, and a screw fastener received through an opening in the said remaining part and threaded into the said tongue, all for assembly of the said two parts in spherically symmetrical relation on the conductor.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 4 in which the screw fastener is disposed in a diametral direction perpendicular to the plane of the remaining face of the said one part for pivotal movement of the said remaining part about the screw fastener into a position over the said one part for exposing the recesses to permit inscrtion of the conductor and for pivotal movement into complementary relation with the said one part in assembled relation on the conductor.

6. A corona device for an electrical conductor comprising a generally spherical metal shell formed in two parts, one part thereof constituted as a circumferential part having a common longitudinal axis with the remaining part, and the two parts having cooperating and adjoining faces and coaxial recesses at opposed extremities thereof for receiving the conductor, a tongue extending outwardly from a face of one of the parts and circumferentially within the said remaining part, and a screw fastener received through an opening in the said remaining part and threaded into the said tongue, the said remaining part having a circumferential extent less than one-half but greater than one-fourth of the distance about the axis and pivoting about the screw fastener and over the said one part to expose the recesses in the said one part for inserting the cable therein, all for assembly of the said two parts in spherically symmetrical relation on the conductor by movement of the said remaining part about the screw fastener and into complementary relation to the said one part.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 6 in which the adjacent portions of the tongue and the said one part opposite the axis are spaced to receive the conductor.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 6 in which the screw fastener is directed along a line perpendicular to the line of the remaining face of the said one part.

Casey Apr. 16, 1935 Nichols May 4, 1948

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