Patent ID: 9335378
Filing Date: 2016-05-10
CPC Classification: G01N,G01R,H01F,H01H

Claim Text:
1. A flexible magnetic coil system for applying a magnetic field to cause ion current flow across one or more gaps inside a vacuum interrupter, the flexible magnetic coil system comprising: a plurality of wires held together as a bundle and configured to be looped around the vacuum interrupter; a positive pole connected to the bundle; a negative pole connected to the bundle; a power supply connected to the positive pole and the negative pole and operable to generate a DC current and to apply the DC current to the positive pole to generate the magnetic field to cause the ion current flow across the one or more gaps inside the vacuum interrupter; and a processor configured to measure the ion current flow across the one or more gaps inside the vacuum interrupter and to compare the measured iron current flow to a threshold value to determine a life expectancy of the vacuum interrupter.