Electrical expansion joint and system using same

Claim 2

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of flexible electrical leads having their opposite ends fastened to said spaced supports, and means engaging and rotating a central portion of each lead relative to both of its opposite ends to take up any slack therein caused by relative axial movement of said supports.

Claim 3

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of flexible electrical leads having their opposite ends fastened to said spaced supports, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports, said rotating means comprising a central member having a central portion of each lead attached thereto and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central member, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central member to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein.

Claim 4

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of flexible electrical leads having their opposite ends fastened to said spaced supports, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports, said rotating means comprising a central member having a central portion of each lead attached thereto and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central member, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central member to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein.

Claim 5

An expansion joint as set forth in claim 2 in which said spring device comprises a torsion spring.

Claim 6

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of flexible electrical leads having their opposite ends fastened to said spaced supports, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports, said rotating means comprising an elongated member having an end portion fixed to one of said supports, a central member supported for unobstructed rotation about said elongated member, said central member having a central portion of each lead attached thereto and a spring device acting between said elongated member and central member to yieldingly rotate said central member about said elongated member and thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein.

Claim 7

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of flexible electrical leads having their opposite ends fastened to said spaced supports, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports, said rotating means comprising an elongated member having an end portion fixed to one of said supports, a central member supported for unobstructed rotation about said elongated member, said central member having a central portion of each lead attached thereto and a spring device acting between said elongated member and central member to yieldingly rotate said central member about said elongated member and thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein.

Claim 8

An expansion joint as set forth in claim 4 in which each of said electrical leads is comprised of a plurality of individual strands arranged in a bundle.

Claim 9

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means engaging and rotating a central portion of each lead relative to both of its opposite ends to take up any slack therein caused by relative axial movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylIndrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter.

Claim 10

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means engaging and rotating a central portion of each lead relative to both of its opposite ends to take up any slack therein caused by relative axial movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylIndrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter.

Claim 11

An expansion joint as set forth in claim 6 in which each of said pair of electrical conductors has a circular outline with a diameter equal to said given diameter and each of said supports comprises a circular plate having an outside diameter also approximately equal to said given diameter.

Claim 12

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter, said rotating means comprising a central circular disc having an outside diameter equal to said given diameter and having the central portions of said leads fixed to the outer periphery thereof at spaced intervals and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central disc, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central disc to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein while keeping said leads within said cylindrical boundary.

Claim 13

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter, said rotating means comprising a central circular disc having an outside diameter equal to said given diameter and having the central portions of said leads fixed to the outer periphery thereof at spaced intervals and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central disc, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central disc to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein while keeping said leads within said cylindrical boundary.

Claim 14

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter, each of said supports having a circular peripheral outline and a diameter equal to said given diameter, with each end of said leads being fixed to an associated support about its peripheral outline to define said expansion joint having a roughly cylindrical configuration of constant diameter which corresponds to said theoretical cylindrical boundary, said rotating means comprising a central circular disc having an outside diameter equal to said given diameter and having the central portions of said leads fixed to the outer periphery thereof at spaced intervals and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central disc, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central disc to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein while maintaining said cylindrical configuration of said expansion joint substantially intact.

Claim 15

An expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of a pair of electrical conductors comprising, a pair of spaced supports each adapted to be fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter, each of said supports having a circular peripheral outline and a diameter equal to said given diameter, with each end of said leads being fixed to an associated support about its peripheral outline to define said expansion joint having a roughly cylindrical configuration of constant diameter which corresponds to said theoretical cylindrical boundary, said rotating means comprising a central circular disc having an outside diameter equal to said given diameter and having the central portions of said leads fixed to the outer periphery thereof at spaced intervals and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central disc, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central disc to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein while maintaining said cylindrical configuration of said expansion joint substantially intact.

Claim 16

An expansion joint as set forth in claim 9 in which said rotating means further comprises a rod having one end portion fixed to one of said supports and its opposite end portion supported by the other support for sliding movement relative thereto, said central disc being rotatably supported by said rod and said spring device acting between said rod and central disc to rotate said disc and said central portion of each lead.

Claim 17

An expansion joint as set forth in claim 10 in which said rod comprises a right circular cylindrical rod and said central disc has a right circular cylindrical inside surface extending through the center thereof which defines an opening for receiving said rod, said cylindrical surface supporting and enabling free rotation of said central disc about said rod.

Claim 18

An expansion joint as set forth in claim 10 in which said spring device comprises a torsion spring and each of said electrical leads is comprised of a plurality of individual strands arranged in a bundle.

Claim 19

An electrical power transmission system comprising; an outer protective conduit; a plurality of elongated electrical conductors supported in electrically insulated relation within said conduit; and an expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of an adjacent pair of said elongated conductors supported within said conduit; said expansion joint comprising, a pair of spaced supports each fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means engaging and rotating a central portion of each lead relative to both of its opposite ends to take up any slack therein caused by relative axial movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter.

Claim 20

An electrical power transmission system comprising; an outer protective conduit; a plurality of elongated electrical conductors supported in electrically insulated relation within said conduit; and an expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of an adjacent pair of said elongated conductors supported within said conduit; said expansion joint comprising, a pair of spaced supports each fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means engaging and rotating a central portion of each lead relative to both of its opposite ends to take up any slack therein caused by relative axial movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter.

Claim 21

A system as set forth in claim 13 and further comprising a plurality of disclike electrical insulating spacers each fixed concentrically around an associated electrical conductor and each supporting an associated conductor within said conduit.

Claim 22

A system as set forth in claim 14 in which each of said spacers has a plurality of passages extending therethrough and said system further comprising an electrical insulating fluid contained within said conduit under pressure and filling the volume between each electrical conductor and expansion joint and said conduit, said electrical insulating fluid being free to flow through said passages to provide improved insulation and cooling along the full length of each electrical conductor and any associated expansion joint.

Claim 23

A system as set forth in claim 13 in which each of said pair of electrical conductors has a circular outline with a diameter equal to said given diameter and each of said supports comprises a circular plate having an outside diameter also approximately equal to said given diameter.

Claim 24

An electrical power transmission system comprising; an outer protective conduit; a plurality of elongated electrical conductors supported in electrically insulated relation within said conduit; and an expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of an adjacent pair of said elongated conductors supported within said conduit; said expansion joint comprising; a pair of spaced supports each fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter, each of said supports having a circular peripheral outline and a diameter equal to said given diameter with each end of said leads being fixed to an associated support about its peripheral outline to define said expansion joint having a roughly cylindrical configuration of constant diameter which corresponds to said theoretical cylindrical boundary, said rotating means comprising a central circular disc having an outside diameter equal to said given diameter and having the central portions of said leads fixed to the outer periphery thereof at spaced intervals and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central disc, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central disc to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein while maintaining said cylindrical configuration of said expansion joint substantially intact.

Claim 25

An electrical power transmission system comprising; an outer protective conduit; a plurality of elongated electrical conductors supported in electrically insulated relation within said conduit; and an expansion joint for electrically connecting associated ends of an adjacent pair of said elongated conductors supported within said conduit; said expansion joint comprising; a pair of spaced supports each fixed to an associated one of said electrical conductors, a plurality of electrical leads having their opposite ends fixed to said spaced supports with each end being fixed to an associated support on a given diameter, and means rotating a central portion of said leads to take up any slack therein caused by relative movement of said supports to keep said leads within the confines of a theoretical cylindrical boundary extending between said supports and having said given diameter, each of said supports having a circular peripheral outline and a diameter equal to said given diameter with each end of said leads being fixed to an associated support about its peripheral outline to define said expansion joint having a roughly cylindrical configuration of constant diameter which corresponds to said theoretical cylindrical boundary, said rotating means comprising a central circular disc having an outside diameter equal to said given diameter and having the central portions of said leads fixed to the outer periphery thereof at spaced intervals and a spring device acting between at least one support and said central disc, said spring device yieldingly rotating said central disc to thereby rotate the central portion of each lead to take up any slack therein while maintaining said cylindrical configuration of said expansion joint substantially intact.

Claim 26

A system as set forth in claim 17 in which said rotating means compriseS a rod having one end portion fixed to one of said supports and its opposite end portion supported by the other support for sliding movement relative thereto, said central disc being rotatably supported by said rod and said spring device acting between said rod and central disc to rotate said disc and said central portion of each lead.

Claim 27

A system as set forth in claim 18 in which said rod comprises a right circular cylindrical rod and said central disc has a right circular cylindrical surface through the center thereof which defines an opening for receiving said rod, said cylindrical surface supporting and enabling free rotation of said central disc about said rod.

Claim 28

A system as set forth in claim 18 in which said spring device comprises a torsion spring and each of said electrical leads is comprised of a plurality of individual strands arranged in a bundle.