JP3128330B2 - Switch immersion detector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switch immersion detecting device for detecting that rainwater or the like has entered the inside of a switch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the surface of a switch installed outdoors, such as on a pole, may corrode and form a hole if left for a long period of time. This is because rust is generated from a dent, a scratch, an edge portion, or the like made on the outer plate of the switch before or before the switch is installed. When rainwater infiltrates from the hole thus formed and accumulates inside and the water level rises to the contact point, a ground fault occurs, causing troubles such as a power outage, and the effects and damages are enormous. Switch rust is particularly frequent in coastal areas with salt damage and in areas near factories that emit harmful gases.

[0003] For this reason, switches installed outdoors, such as on poles, are regularly patrolled to detect the occurrence of corrosion at an early stage. However, since the switch is installed on the pole, it is laborious to climb up the pole one by one to check the height. Therefore, first, the appearance of the switch is visually checked from the ground, and if rust is observed, an inspector approaches the switch by climbing a utility pole or using a bucket or the like to check whether rust is generated. In the case of a normal switch, the location where rust is generated is limited to the surface of the outer box, the insulator fixing portion, and the like, and the inspector mainly checks those portions visually.

If corrosion is found as a result of these inspections, the switch is lowered onto the ground and inspected in detail.
Replace if corrosion is severe enough to endure use. further,
As a method for checking rainwater infiltration in a switch, there is a technique of detecting presence or absence of water infiltration by ultrasonic waves from the outside of the bottom of the switch.

[0005]

As described above, the inspection of rainwater infiltration into a switch installed on a conventional pillar can be performed in the following manner.
There are three stages: visual inspection from the ground, inspection after actually climbing on the pole, and detailed inspection after the switch is lowered to the ground. Inspection of the appearance from the ground is easy, but the reliability is poor, so the number of inspections after climbing on the pillars will inevitably increase.

[0006] Inspections on pillars, even when using buckets and the like, are limited to scaffolding due to work at heights and are limited due to dangers. Must be lowered to the ground, which is a major task. In any case, these inspection operations are inefficient and development of an effective inspection method has been desired.

[0007] Further, in the case of checking the inundation from the outside of the bottom of the switch using ultrasonic waves, the apparatus becomes complicated and expensive, and the apparatus itself needs to be maintained. Etc. must be used, which is not always efficient. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to easily and reliably check whether rainwater has entered a switch on a pole while on the ground. It is an object of the present invention to provide a switch immersion detecting device capable of detecting a switch.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention contains a substance which changes color when contacted with water, at least one surface of which is made of a transparent material and which communicates with the storage part. And a connection portion connected to the switch by forming a screw portion on the outer periphery.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the connecting portion is attached to the switch by screwing. If rainwater or the like accumulates in the switch in this state, the rainwater penetrates into the storage section via the connection section, and the substance in the storage section changes color. Discoloration of the substance is visually confirmed from the outside through the transparent part of the storage part.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a switch immersion detector according to an embodiment, which is partially cut away. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an outer plate at the bottom of the switch 20, and 2 denotes a socket portion on which the outer plate 1 is formed, which is used for supplying a pressurized gas for an airtight test in an inspection process after manufacturing. Conventionally, an airtight plug is attached to the socket portion 2 to maintain the airtightness after the test. In the present invention, instead of the airtight plug, a switch immersion detector 10 is attached.

That is, the connecting portion 3 having a male screw formed on the outer periphery is screwed and fixed inside the socket portion 2. The inside of the connection part 3 is formed hollow, and a flange 4 is integrally formed at one end thereof. A packing 5 is pressed between the abutting portion of the socket portion 2 and the flange 4 to maintain airtightness.

A screw portion 6 having a male thread on the outer periphery is integrally formed on the surface of the flange 4 opposite to the socket portion 2 on the opposite side. A hemispherical housing portion 7 made of a transparent resin is screwed into the screw portion 6 in an airtight manner via a packing 8 and fixed. Inside the storage section 7, a discoloration sphere 9 is stored. As the material of the storage section 7, transparency, impact resistance,
Propionate, butyrate, polycarbonate and the like having excellent weather resistance are suitable. When these resins are used, transparency is maintained outdoors for about 10 years.

The discoloring sphere 9 has a three-layer structure as shown in FIG. The outermost portion is an outer shell 11 made of a fibrous material such as felt which is white and has excellent absorbency.
The inside is a bag-shaped gauze 12, in which a discoloring substance 13 is packed. The discoloring substance 13 is a gel formed by mixing a natural water-soluble polymer substance and a water-soluble dye,
After that, it is dried and then crushed and wrapped in a gauze 12 and an outer shell 11 made of absorptive white fiber material. In this state, the appearance of the color-changing sphere 9 remains white of the outer shell 11.

As the natural water-soluble polymer substance, a natural polysaccharide such as “Pullulan” (trade name) is used. As the water-soluble dye, the product name "Ci changes to vermilion when dissolved in water."
bacron Red P-3 "," Terasil
Pink 3GN ”,“ Cibacron Red F ”
-B "or the like, or two or more kinds are used in combination. In a state where a natural water-soluble polymer substance and a water-soluble dye are mixed, it becomes a so-called dye processed product,
The natural water-soluble polymer is bound so as to surround the dye particles.

The switch immersion detector 10 configured as described above is attached to the bottom of the switch 20.
When rainwater accumulates in the switch 20, water flows into the storage unit 7 via the connection unit 3. The rainwater first soaks into the outer shell 11 of the discoloring sphere 9 and then the central discoloring substance 1
Reach 3. In the discolored substance 13 that is wet with water, only the surrounding natural water-soluble polymer dissolves and flows out, so that the original vermilion color of the dye appears vividly.

As a result, the color change of the color changing substance 13 from white to vermilion can be easily confirmed from the outside of the transparent storage section 7, and even if the switch 20 is installed on a pole, it can be seen from the ground. By checking the storage section 7 with the naked eye or binoculars, it is possible to easily check whether or not rainwater has entered.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another example of mounting the switch immersion detector 10. The switch 30 in FIG.
In contrast, the case where the position of the socket portion 15 to which the airtight plug is attached is a side surface is shown. If the socket portion 15 is on the side surface, even if the rainwater W enters, it accumulates at the bottom of the switch 30, and it takes time to reach the level of the detector 10 as it is.

Therefore, a string 17 woven from fibers having good water retention is fixed along the outer plate 16 from the connecting portion 3 to the bottom of the outer plate 16. As the string 17, souff, cotton, glass fiber, or the like is used. The fixing bracket 18 connects the string 17 to the outer plate 1.
6 fixed and supported. The spacer 19 connects the string 17 to the connection portion 3.
And is fixed so that the tip of the string 17 is securely connected to the discoloring sphere 9.

Thus, one end of the string 17 is immersed in the rainwater W,
If the other end is connected to the color changing sphere 9, the rain water W is absorbed by the string 17 by the capillary phenomenon and supplied to the color changing sphere 9 reliably regardless of the level of the rain water W. As a result, even if the amount of the rainwater W is small, the presence or absence of the rainwater W can be reliably confirmed.

As described above, this switch immersion detector 1
0 has no mechanically movable part or electric circuit at all. Therefore, no maintenance is required. Further, even when the switch immersion detector 10 is installed at a distance, the presence or absence of rainwater W can be confirmed by the discoloration of the discoloration sphere 9 instead of characters or the like even when the switch is installed at a distance. Therefore, the switch installed on a pillar is an optimal detector for flooding.

FIG. 4 is an external view showing the entire switch 20 having the switch water immersion detector 10 attached to the bottom as in the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 5 shows a switch 3 having a switch immersion detector 10 attached to the side as in the embodiment of FIG.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the entirety of the apparatus.

In the embodiment, the dye used for the color changing sphere 9 is vermilion, but it is also possible to use another conspicuous color. Further, it is possible to form the storage section 7 into a shape other than a hemisphere. In this case, the surface in one direction is always transparent so that the inside of the discoloration sphere 9 can be reliably viewed.

A hygroscopic agent such as silica gel is conventionally disposed in the switches 20, 30 and the like, and when moisture enters, the moisture is adsorbed by the hygroscopic agent to maintain a dry state. The switch immersion detector 10 of the present invention is not intended to detect such moisture that gradually enters for a long period of time, but instead immerses water from damage to the outer plate due to rust or the like. This is a detector for detecting when rainwater W enters the switch from a portion.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the water in the switch can be visually checked from the outside by the discoloration of the substance in the storage part, and the water can be easily seen from a distance. The presence or absence of inundation can be reliably confirmed. As a result, the switch installed on the pillar can be efficiently inspected for inundation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of an embodiment in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another example of attachment of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an external view showing an example of a switch to which the embodiment is attached.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing an example of a switch to which the embodiment is attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer plate 2 Socket part 3 Connection part 6 Screw part 7 Storage part 9 Discoloration sphere 10 Water immersion detector for switch 11 Outer shell 12 Gauze 13 Discoloration substance 15 Socket part 16 Outer plate 17 String 20 Switch 30 Switch W Rain water

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01H 33/53 H01H 31/02 H01H 33/34 H01H 9/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A container for storing a substance which changes color when contacted with water, at least one surface of which is formed of a transparent material, and a connection which communicates with the storage and forms a thread on the outer periphery to connect to a switch. And a switch immersion detector.