High voltage terminal bushing for electrical apparatus

Claim 1

In a high-voltage terminal bushing, a tubular shell of electrical insulating material having a pair of opposed ends and a central passageway extending between said ends, an electrical conductor extending between said ends via said central passageway, means including a pair of metal end caps at the opposite ends of said insulating shell and at opposite ends of said conductor for mounting said conductor within said central passageway, said conductor having an external surface that is spaced from the internal surface of said passageway, grounded structure disposed externally of said shell at a location intermediate the ends of the shell, said bushing being so constructed that said insulating shell is disposed in all potential electrical breakdown paths between said grounded structure and the portion of said conductor within said central passageway, a thin coating of electrical insulating material covering and bonded to said external surface of the conductor and spaced from said internal surface of the passageway by a cylindrical gap containing gaseous dielectric that is dielectrically stressed in the region of said grounded structure when the bushing is energized, said coating being located in a position between said end caps and having a thickness of at least about 10 mils covering at least the entire portion of the external surface of said conductor that is located in the region of said grounded structure, said coating having a sufficient dielectric strength to prevent any corona streamers from said conductor from impinging against said internal surface of said passageway at impulse voltages up to the rated impulse insulation level required by industry standards, the bushing being of such design that without said coating, impulse voltages beneath said rated impulse insulation level produce corona streamers from said conductor that impinge against said internal surface of said passageway.