Patent ID: 8546716

Claim:
A gas-blast circuit breaker comprising: a first contact; a second contact for making an electrically conductive connection to the first contact, with the first contact being movable relative to the second contact along a longitudinal axis; a blowout volume including a compression area, which is connected to an arc zone for receiving a pressure build-up and for blowing out an arc with quenching gas; a cylinder-piston arrangement in the compression area of the blowout volume; an exhaust volume for receiving and cooling gas; a low-pressure area, which is separated by a separating element from the blowout volume and in which gas pressure is maintained approximately constant during a switching process; and a plurality of parallel flow openings formed in the separating element, at least one of which cannot be closed, for providing a gas exchange between the low-pressure area and the compression area of the blowout volume through an area of the separating element which separates the compression area of the blowout volume from the low-pressure area in a radial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis.